The Pursuit of Balance
by Acooler1
Summary: Set 3 years before the anime. Everyone knows about the Duel Gangs in Satellite, but what about the ones in Neo Domino? Follow in the footsteps of Raymond, as he and Team Aegis protect their turf from their rivals, only to find themselves saving the world.
1. Night Assailant

_**Author's Note: Hello everyone, and welcome to my newest FanFiction, "The Pursuit of Balance!" I'd like to thank you for even deciding to come read this fic, it shows I've captured your attention from the previous page.**_**_ Now, here's to hoping I keep it. Make sure to utilize the 3 Rs: Relax, Read, and Review!_**

_**This fic is rated "T" for violence, language, and suggestive themes.  
**_

**_Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!: 5D's. Though I'm pretty sure that's common knowledge. I don't make money off the franchise or this story; the only thing I own are my OCs._**

_**Chapter 1: Night Assailant**_

'_Sure is quiet out here.'_

Such were the thoughts of Raymond Collins, a 19-year-old cruising slowly through the streets on his pure white D-Wheel in the dark streets of the late hour. Stopping at a red light under a lamppost, one could clearly see the brown-skinned lad with unkempt, jet-black hair poking out from under his white helmet focusing his brown eyes on the screen of his vehicle. His outfit consisted of a blue, sleeveless jacket and a golden, short-sleeved shirt. White cloth wristbands on both of his wrists were embedded with a circle containing an arrow curving to the left in gold trim. White pants and shoes completed the ensemble.

As he sat waiting for the light to change (and keeping on the lookout for anybody who would attempt to waylay him for his bike), he thought back to 14 years ago, when the Zero Reverse had occurred. It was such a sight to behold; that weird column of light expanding from that high building caused the entire city to tremor. The man-made disaster destroyed a good part of Domino City, splitting it into two parts separated by water.

It was blatantly obvious to the eyes of many that Satellite, the newly christened island where the Zero Reverse occurred, would never be able to recover up to even a fraction of its glory. The Public Security Maintenance Bureau still took initiative to help them get back on their feet somehow, but with little to no success. The people who had nowhere to go, hardly any food to eat or clean water to drink, with their clothes in tatters and their spirits in similar condition, were mostly left to fend for themselves in a place that literally looked like a landfill if they couldn't move to Neo Domino at once. And not many people could.

Of course, with everyone in that dismal area wanting to advance their welfare quickly, crime in Satellite began to skyrocket. However, not many people in the thriving Neo Domino City seemed to care much. That was, until the crime began to spread _into_ Neo Domino. Many people were shocked at this new increase in crime, especially in the parts closest to Satellite. Only when they pinpointed upon _that_ fact did people begin to have a glimpse of what was going on. The people in Satellite were making their way here somehow over the water, most of them ill-mannered and with thoughts of greed, despair, and hatred.

Greed for the riches that were once theirs to share.

Despair for the seemingly hopelessness of their situation.

Hatred for the way that they've been left by the wayside as if they were trash.

Trash. With the rising crime rate in Neo Domino, that was exactly how the people of Satellite were perceived. The Public Security Maintenance Bureau, through Sector Security, took action and brought many of these offenders to justice. But yet they still kept pouring in. The PSMB decided to nip the problem in the bud: Satellite itself.

While officers took to the water to catch many of these would-be interlopers as there was no solid mass connecting the two areas (natural or manmade), a huge project went underway to provide the people of Satellite with a way to earn their keep. While a tunnel was being constructed underneath the water, officials with armed transports took to the air to land in that dreaded place. Right away, they noticed that the place looked so much like a garbage dump. Then the bright idea came: the Satellite residents would earn their keep by cleaning up the place. That way, the people there would be able to procure their basic needs through an income, and it would be a deterrent of sorts to keep people from bringing their filthy dreams to the utopia known as Neo Domino. Meanwhile, officers would patrol the whole of Satellite, chasing away gangs and ne'er-do-wells and bringing them to justice when necessary.

At one point, high-ranking officials in the PSMB worried about what would happen once everything got cleaned up. Would people try to infiltrate Neo Domino City again? A suggestion was made to increase their workload- by letting those in Satellite sort out _Neo Domino's_ trash as well as their own. The people there would have to constantly work hard for a living rummaging through other people's refuse like beggars, which most of the higher ups thought fitted them perfectly.

'_And look what's happening now,' _thought Raymond. '_Did those executives really think that the Satellite residents would be content to wallow in their waste for the rest of their lives? I'm surprised that there hasn't been something of a mass invasion as of yet. Of course, it's near impossible for something like that to happen when everyone is trying to drag you down when you get a leg up, like crabs or something.'_

Raymond was so engrossed in his thoughts that he forgot to look up at the light he had stopped at. As soon as he did, the green light rapidly disappeared as yellow took its place. Reacting quickly, he stepped on the gas and proceeded to return to his rounds on the deserted streets.

'_It's 1:00 am now,' _Raymond thought to himself. _'Seems like they decided not to take their chances. Huh. The three of them have some brains in their skulls after all. Suppose I'll call it a night and talk to Zack and Siren in the morning.' _He swerved to the left onto Riverside Dr., taking in the scent of the nightly breeze as it wafted through the wind.

The next instant, he saw two other people coming from the opposite direction. One was on foot, and seemed to be running away from the other person, who was riding a pale blue D-Wheel, the streetlights giving it an even lighter coating. Raymond instantly knew something was wrong, not only because of what he was seeing, but even his _deck_ sensed that something was amiss.

That alone meant he couldn't ignore what was happening.

Raymond sped toward the two unknowns, producing a can of root beer from a compartment in his D-Wheel, shaking it while determined to set the situation straight.

* * *

Wet.

Breathless.

Cold as hell.

Right now, Charlotte Wilde was all of these things and more.

To think, ten minutes ago, she was finally done with that grueling trip across the water to Neo Domino. That rowboat had definitely seen better days, in her opinion. With 18 hours of rowing and only a few breaks, she was surprised that she didn't get spotted by any of the authorities. Her outfit, a black dingy shirt exposing her midriff, black pants and shoes, didn't exactly blend in with her white rowboat. Her meager food supply ran out quickly, which made the need to get to Neo Domino from Satellite all the more urgent. She hated having to steal something as soon as she got there, but without proper rest, she wasn't going to last much longer to even do that.

That is, if she even managed to lose pursuit of the D-Wheel rapidly closing in on her. She didn't have anything left in reserve and she and her tormentor both knew it.

The pursuing D-Wheel suddenly shot by her and swerved in front of her, blocking any hope of escaping in that direction. Charlotte's panting was the only sound between them. The mysterious pursuer, still seated on the vehicle, gave her a sinister smile.

"I'm surprised you ran as long as you did," the person said. Charlotte was surprised; she couldn't look up as she was trying to catch her breath, but her pursuer sounded a lot like a woman. "But there's no way that none of you Satellite scum can hide from justice. We don't need anymore of you criminals fouling up our city. You're actually lucky that I found you sneaking in. Otherwise, you would've just blended in with nobody suspecting anything." A knife suddenly presented itself from the gauntlet worn on her left hand. "Do me a really big favor and don't scream, because nobody is around to help you. Even if they were, they'd probably assist me once I tell them the-"

Headlights. The mystery woman could tell because they were illuminating Charlotte's face. Both of them hoped with all their hearts that it wasn't Sector Security, albeit for different reasons. It turned out that wasn't the case as Raymond pulled up, analyzing the situation with root beer in hand. He looked at the girl from Satellite, wet with her clothes clinging to her body and still panting for breath. It seemed like she could drop at any second. Her left eye was a radiant golden color that complimented her pale skin; her long, black hair obscured her right eye. He could bet that she saw both D-Wheelers as a threat, and would fight them both at once if need be.

His gaze turned to the would-be assassin. The bright headlights revealed that the mystery woman was decked out in blue, the same color as her D-Wheel, with long brown hair flowing from underneath her helmet. Behind her visor, her green eyes stared back at him with curiosity. The blade in her gauntlet glistened in the light, and quickly drew his attention.

Raymond focused his gaze on her for a little longer, then looked back to Charlotte, and quickly deduced that the other woman was going to kill her. Over what, he didn't know. But he had a feeling that he was going to find out soon.

Either way, he knew what had to be done. He could save her, or at least give himself a fighting chance to.

With that in mind, he quickly aimed the root beer can and opened it, sending a brown, frothy geyser at the seated woman's face, mucking up her visor and causing her to sputter. Raymond loved this non-violent tactic of shaking cans of soda with intent to blind when dealing with his rivals outside of a duel.

He quickly turned to Charlotte. "Get on!" he commanded.

Wasting no time, Charlotte climbed onto Raymond's D-Wheel and wrapped her arms around his waist like her life depended on it (which it did, actually) as he revved the engine and sped off. When they were some distance away, Charlotte took the chance to thank the stranger who saved her.

"Hey listen!" she shouted as the wind picked up around them. "Thanks for saving my life back there!"

"Don't worry about it," replied Raymond. He turned around to look at her. "You look like hell, though. What were you doing out this late at night?"

"I… was out walking," she replied, hoping he didn't catch the uneasiness in her voice. "I-I wasn't up to no good, honest! When all of a sudden-"

"That woman was hunting you down, right?" Raymond finished. "Do you owe her money or something?"

"Of course not! That was the first time I've even seen her!" Charlotte exclaimed truthfully.

"So she was just trying to commit a random act of violence. Well, I don't know about you," said Raymond, "but I can't stand people who kill indiscriminately."

"I'm not a killer just yet!" said a voice behind them.

Charlotte looked back, while Raymond looked to his side mirror. They were both shocked to see the assassin following them.

"But _she _will be!" she continued. "Listen guy, you really are just better off letting me kill her! I'll forgive you for earlier if you at least send her to prison or something!"

"And why is that?" Raymond asked.

The assassin grinned, sure of the outcome of her next outburst. "I don't think you know this, but that bitch you have on your back… she's Satellite scum!"

Charlotte cringed. Now that she'd been found out, her savior would definitely turn her in and she'd have to do time in a correctional facility. Or she'd wind up dead tonight after all with that assassin's blade through her heart after all. She heard that the people of Neo Domino had absolutely no love for those residing in Satellite.

"…So?"

That one word spoken by Raymond caught both women by surprise.

Charlotte didn't think that anybody in this utopia would stand up for her. Why this guy, who didn't even know she existed until a minute ago? Perhaps it was because she had very good _assets_. A body like hers could make guys turn heads, and a few girls as well. Did he protect her simply to get _that_ kind of reward afterward? She honestly hoped not… she didn't want to do anything like that as payback for a rescue, especially not on her first night here.

The assassin's face seemed frozen in shock. '_You mean to tell me that there are people in this city who actually _side_ with them!'_ she shouted in her mind. That thought alone made her grit her teeth and harden her eyes.

"You scum lover! Why the hell would you want to help her?" She shouted.

"I think you're supposed to judge people on what they actually _do, _not where they come from," Raymond stated. "Has she actually done anything bad?"

"Uh… W-Well, she, uh, stole my wallet. Yeah! She's a pickpocket!" the woman lied.

Raymond shook his head. "You're pretty bad at lying, you know that?" he deadpanned.

If one could see the assassin's face, she would look like she would just explode from anger. In her rage, she punched a couple of buttons on her ride.

"Forced activation! Speed World, set on!"

Raymond's was confused until his monitor showed the crucial programmed Field Spell before a ring emitted from his and the irate assassin's D-Wheels, enshrouding everything around them in a purplish hue.

"Hey, only Sector Security vehicles can force a duel!" cried Raymond. "And yours isn't painted like it either. Am I to assume you stole some programming from one of them?"

"Yes, I stole it!" the woman cried, without thinking. "And I'll have you know that I used to be a member of Sector Security until yesterday! I got fired for too much aggression towards my superiors! They're not finding these Satellite scum fast enough! Especially the ones that…" she took a deep breath. Then a second, and a third, and she finally managed to calm down.

"Especially the ones that what?" demanded Charlotte.

"I don't have to explain anything to one of _you_," the woman retorted. To Raymond, she said, "Anyway, since I activated Speed World, and forced you to do so as well, we're gonna play this out with her life on the line. You win, I back off… for now. I win, she dies, and you have to live with the guilt that you couldn't protect your precious scum. _If_ I decide not to kill you as well, that is."

"I agree to those terms," declared Raymond without thinking about it. "Not like I have a choice anyway; the Field Spell makes it so Ambrosia can't outrun you for now."

'_Ambrosia?' _thought Charlotte. _'Must be his D-Wheel's name. Cute.'_

"So, lady- and I use that term loosely in your case- what's your name? It would feel weird just calling you whatever comes to mind," said Raymond.

"My name is Lynn," replied the brown-haired woman. "And who's the guy helping the future criminal?"

"Raymond."

"Humph. Well you, Raymond, are in the way of my personal vendetta against these Satellite scum! I'll eliminate the both of you so I can have my justice!"

Raymond turned to his backseat passenger, ignoring Lynn's rant. "You know, I never got your name either…"

"It's Charlotte," she told him.

"Pretty name," he complimented. "Charlotte, I always heard that Sector Security sucked when it came to dueling…"

"That is actually true, in fact," Charlotte confirmed. "There was once a rumor going around that an officer lost to a 5-year-old he was chasing for stolen candy."

"That's just sad," laughed Raymond. "Well, hang on tight, Charlotte. I may not be Allstate, but you're definitely in good hands."

That drew a small chuckle from Charlotte as Raymond and Lynn both drew 5 cards from their decks and placed them in their respective gauntlets.

"Duel!" the two duelists shouted.

**Raymond (LP: 8,000; SPC: 0) vs. Lynn (LP: 8,000; SPC: 0)**

"I'll start this off," Lynn declared as she drew her card. "First, I'll summon Marauding Captain in Attack Position! Heed the call!"

A portal appeared, and a blond-haired, middle-aged man in teal armor and a cape jumped out wielding two swords. He had a thin scar running from the bottom of his right eye to his right cheek (1,200 ATK). He ran alongside Lynn.

"When Marauding Captain is Normal Summoned, I can bring out another Monster whose Level is no more than 4. So I'll Special Summon…"

"Don't bother," Raymond replied.

"I don't see why not-" A bright, orange light caught Lynn's attention. She looked up to see a translucent orange crystal encased partly in spherical, winged armor.

"That's the Herald of Orange Light," clarified Raymond. "By discarding it and another Fairy-type from my hand, I can select one of your monsters on the field, negate its effect, and destroy it."

After he discarded the two cards, the orange Herald streaked towards Marauding Captain in a kamikaze attack, obliterating both monsters into shards of light. Charlotte was amazed. _'He countered her move and he didn't even have a turn yet! I've never seen anyone with a deck like that!'_

Lynn just huffed at Raymond's move. "Temporary setback. I'll end my turn with a facedown card." An image of a facedown card appeared next to Lynn's D-Wheel before vanishing.

"My move then," said Raymond as he drew his card. His and Lynn's Speed Counters both increased by 1.

**Raymond (LP: 8,000; SPC: 1) vs. Lynn (LP: 8,000; SPC: 1)**

Raymond looked at his hand, then smiled. Charlotte peeked over his shoulder to see what card he drew, but didn't get to see what it was before he played it.

"Bountiful Artemis, let's go!"

Upon Raymond's call, a mechanical angel appeared. It had a fuchsia cape and in place of legs was a torso that narrowed down to a point, which was where its feet would be if it had any (1,600 ATK). If flew alongside Raymond.

"Attack her directly! Arrow Abundance!" Bountiful Artemis did a 180 to face Lynn, conjured up a bow, loaded a shining arrow, and fired. Multiple streaks of light came at Lynn from different angles.

"Trap, activate!" cried Lynn as her facedown card appeared and lifted. A clear barrier appeared in front of Lynn, and Artemis' attacks created miniature explosions upon contact. Minuscule green orbs spread out over Lynn from the point of impact, providing a refreshing feeling for her.

"Thanks to my Draining Shield," Lynn explained, "your monster's attack is negated, and I gain Life Points equal to its attack power!" (Lynn: 8,000 - 9,600 LP)

"Great," replied Charlotte. "Now it's gonna take a bit more to take her down."

"No worries," Raymond told her. To Lynn, he said, "I'll set two facedown cards and end my turn." A facedown card appeared on either side of Raymond and Charlotte before vanishing.

"Fine then. I draw!" cried Lynn.

"Activate trap!" One of Raymond's cards lifted. "Drastic Drop Off! Since you added at least one card from your deck to your hand just now, you have to discard one of those cards."

'_Damn him!'_ thought Lynn. _'That was my second Marauding Captain!' _She reluctantly discarded the card.

"Now, thanks to Artemis, I get to draw a card when a Counter Trap is activated." continued Raymond.

"This duel hasn't even been on long and I'm already getting tired of you doing stuff on my turn! Are you done!" Lynn asked, even more irate than she was before.

"Yeah, for now," Raymond responded as he drew. "Make your move." Both players' Speed Counters went up to 2.

**Raymond (LP: 8,000; SPC: 2) vs. Lynn (LP: 9,600; SPC: 2)**

"Now, I summon Zombyra the Dark! Heed the call!"

Another portal opened in front of Lynn. This one produced a warrior with a tan helmet and a tattered cape, looking much like a soldier from the underworld (2,100 ATK).

"Now Zombyra, attack Bountiful Artemis! Dark Buster!" Zombyra rushed towards Artemis, his left hand ablaze in purple flames.

"Trap, activate! Negate Attack!" cried Raymond. Zombyra's fist hit a swirling barrier that appeared in front of Artemis. "Zombyra's attack is negated and the Battle Phase ends! Also, I get to draw another card due to Artemis' effect."

"Ugh, this is getting irritating!" shouted Lynn as Zombyra slowed his pace to match hers. "I'll end with a face down."

"Alright, my turn!" said Raymond. He drew a card and both players' counters rose to 3.

**Raymond (LP: 8,000; SPC: 3) vs. Lynn (LP: 9,600; SPC: 3)**

"Hey Raymond," asked Charlotte, "you gonna start a real offensive against this bitch soon?"

"Don't worry, Charlotte. I got us covered." Raymond replied.

'_Famous last words,'_ Charlotte woefully thought.

"OK, I'm going to sacrifice Artemis for someone with more attack power!" Artemis transformed into a glowing sphere. "I summon Tethys, Goddess of Light!"

The glowing sphere expanded and then vanished, revealing a blond angel dressed in a long, white robe that hugged her figure. Above the robe, she wore jewel-encrusted battle armor along with a ornate headdress. Majestic wings were attached to small orbs that hovered behind her back (2,400 ATK).

"Now Tethys will attack Zombyra! Divine Rain!" Tethys reached up high to the heavens…

…But a portal to another dimension opened up in front of her. A powerful force sucked her inside before she could react and closed as if it was never there.

"Tethys!" cried Raymond. He looked back at Lynn who had her no-longer-facedown card up in front of her.

"Since you were attacking, I activated Dimensional Prison to remove Tethys from play. And she's not coming back anytime soon."

'_Damn, I just knew it,' _thought Charlotte, _'Pride always comes before a fall. Raymond, if you lose this duel, I swear my spirit will haunt you until the end of time!'_

"Not cool," said Raymond in response to Lynn's move. "It'll be okay, though. I'll just lay this facedown and call it a turn."

A facedown card appeared briefly on Raymond's side. Lynn drew a card to start her turn as both players' Speed Counters rose to 4.

**Raymond (LP: 8,000; SPC: 4) vs. Lynn (LP: 9,600; SPC: 4)**

"You can't fool me with that bluff! You're wide open!" declared Lynn as they made a left turn into a residential area. "Unfortunately, Zombyra can't attack a player directly.

"Fortunately, I just drew someone I can sacrifice him for!"

Zombyra shifted until it transformed into a glowing sphere like Artemis did before him.

"Now, I summon Freed the Matchless General! Heed the call!"

The sphere expanded, and a middle-aged man with long, blond hair and a mustache wearing silver polished armor brandishing a longsword leaped out of it (2,300 ATK).

"Get ready to feel some pain! Freed, attack that scum-lover directly!" commanded Lynn. "Expert Slash!" Freed readied his longsword…

"Not so fast, Lynn. I'm activating my so-called bluff!" cried Raymond as his only card on the field revealed itself. "Miraculous Descent! This lets me Special Summon one of my Fairies that's been removed from play!"

"Wait a minute. That means…"

"Exactly! Tethys, Goddess of Light makes a second appearance!" Raymond explained as Tethys descended seemingly from the heavens. "And she can take on your so-called Matchless General and win! But you're welcome prove me wrong…"

Lynn growled in annoyance. This guy was stopping her at every turn! "Freed! Stand down." The warrior lowered his sword. She looked at her hand. _Damn, no other cards except monsters. I'm gonna eat some damage next turn. _"There's nothing else I can do, so I end."

"Alright, then," confirmed Raymond as he drew his card to begin his turn. "I activate Tethys' effect! If I draw a Fairy-type monster while she's on the field, I can reveal it to you to draw another card!"

A card appeared on Lynn's screen: Majestic Mech- Ohka. "Six stars," she confirmed. "So, I'm guessing that you're going to sacrifice Tethys to summon it, right?"

"Nope!" replied Raymond as he drew another card. Speed Counters were now five apiece.

**Raymond (LP: 8,000; SPC: 5) vs. Lynn (LP: 9,600; SPC: 5)**

"Ohka can be Normal Summoned without a tribute," he explained. "Like so!"

He played the card, and in a burst of light, a white, mechanical wolf-like creature with wings and red lines along its body appeared running along the other side of Raymond's D-Wheel (2,400 ATK).

"Alright, Ohka! Attack Freed with Celestial Lunge!" Ohka made a u-turn and tackled Freed, who tried to parry with his sword but was pinned to the ground. He screamed as Ohka bit his jugular before he exploded into pixels. (Lynn: 9,600 - 9,500 LP)

"Now, Tethys will attack you directly! And without any interruptions this time!" Tethys raised her hands again, and this time rays of light rained down around Lynn, some of them hitting her D-Wheel. (Lynn: 9,500 - 7,100 LP; SPC: 5 - 3) She growled as she struggled to maintain her balance.

"I'm going to end my turn there," said Raymond. "Since I summoned Ohka without a tribute, he's destroyed now."

Ohka, who hadn't moved from his spot, shattered into pixels, surprising a young brother and sister looking out of their window.

Lynn drew. Her Speed counters rose to 4, while Raymond's increased to 6.

**Raymond (LP: 8,000; SPC: 6) vs. Lynn (LP: 7,100; SPC: 4)**

"I'm setting a monster and ending my turn there," she said as a facedown card appeared horizontally in front of her D-Wheel.

"Alright," confirmed Raymond as he drew.

**Raymond (LP: 8,000; SPC: 7) vs. Lynn (LP: 7,100; SPC: 5)**

"Tethys, attack her facedown monster!"

Tethys preformed her heavenly attack again. The facedown monster was a blond woman in a small green jacket with tape around her arms with a tattered brown cape and hat; she was obliterated by the rays.

"That was my Warrior Lady of the Wasteland," said Lynn. "Since you destroyed it by battle, I get to Special Summon a Warrior of the EARTH attribute from my deck, but it can't have more than 1,500 ATK. So I'll bring out my Amazoness Swords Woman."

A card slipped out of Lynn's deck and she played it. A muscular woman with wild brown hair wearing fur boots, a blue loincloth with fangs around the edges, and a bra with similar decorations appeared holding a curved sword (1,500 ATK).

"I suppose I'll end my turn there…" said Raymond.

Lynn drew her card, determined to inflict some damage.

**Raymond (LP: 8,000; SPC: 8) vs. Lynn (LP: 7,100; SPC: 6)**

"Now you're in for it!" she cried. "I summon my deck's mascot! Rose, Warrior of Revenge!"

A woman appeared in a tight black leather outfit with a green scarf around her neck. Her red hair was tied in a ponytail, which flew behind her as she readied her sword (1,600 ATK).

"Get this: Rose is a Level 4 Tuner!" Lynn explained.

"What?" shouted Charlotte. _'We don't have cards like that in Satellite.'_

"Now, I'm tuning my Level 4 Rose to my Level 4 Swords Woman!"

Rose jumped up, and then split into 4 stars which turned into green rings. Amazoness Swords Woman jumped up through them, vanishing slowly into an outline of herself while Lynn chanted.

"_Embodiment of fallen soldiers who collaborate for revenge! Grudges of the ill-fated shall manifest into a titan of might!_

"_Synchro Summon! The fist of vengeance, Colossal Fighter!"_

A portal appeared, and a giant Warrior completely covered in a white armor suit appeared. A blue orb was embedded in each of his lower and upper arms, and another two were on his chest. A sleek green visor covered his eyes (2,800 ATK).

"Raymond… we're in trouble," said Charlotte.

"Damn right you are!" cried Lynn. "And by the way, that's only his base ATK power. Colossal Fighter gains an extra 100 ATK for every Warrior in both Graveyards."

The phantoms of the two Marauding Captains, Zombyra, Freed, Warrior Lady, Swords Woman, and Rose appeared above Colossal Fighter before dissolving. The hulking giant took on a green aura (2,800 - 3,500 ATK).

"Now to 'tenderize the meat,' so to speak. I activate Speed Spell - Half Size! This cuts Tethys's ATK in half and I gain Life Points equal to the same amount."

Tethys shrunk to half her size (2,400 - 1,200 ATK) while Lynn recovered LP. (Lynn: 7,100 -8,300 LP)

"Colossal Fighter, ground that angel! Mega Knuckle!"

Colossal Fighter leapt at the angel, his fist swirled in an orange vortex before it came down on Tethys. She hit the ground tumbling before exploding into pixels, the Miraculous Descent vanishing along with it. (Raymond: 8,000 - 5,600 LP; SPC: 8 - 6)

Lynn chuckled while Raymond struggled to maintain his balance from the shockwave that followed that attack… Not easy to do considering an extra passenger screaming in his ear. "I'm still not done yet! I activate Speed Spell - Sonic Buster! This deals damage equal to half the ATK of one of my monsters!"

The Speed Spell shot a large beam that hit Raymond and Charlotte, spinning them out of control again. (Raymond: 5,600 LP - 3,850 LP; SPC: 6 - 5)

Raymond's slower speed enabled Lynn to catch up to him and Charlotte. She turned to him and said, "There's plenty more where that came from next turn." Then she sped ahead.

Raymond drew his card… and grinned while the Speed Counters rose.

**Raymond (LP: 3,850; SPC: 6) vs. Lynn (LP: 8,300; SPC: 7)**

"Lynn!" cried Raymond. "You really think you're something, huh?"

"I _know_ I'm something!" she beamed.

"She's a sadist with issues, that's what she is," muttered Charlotte to Raymond.

"…Maybe. But you know, you can't judge people on first glance."

"True," Charlotte confirmed. "But there's no second chance for a first impression. Now, take that big guy down so we can get out of here already!"

Raymond returned his focus on the duel at hand. "I'm removing two of my Light monsters in my Graveyard from play to Special Summon Soul of Purity and Light!"

Another angel materialized; she appeared to be translucent, bathed in a soft light. Her shoulder-length hair flowed behind her as she flew alongside Raymond (2,000 ATK).

"Next, I play Speed Spell - Vision Wind! Now I get to Special Summon a Monster from my Graveyard, as long as its Level isn't more than 2. So I'm Special Summoning Herald of Orange Light."

The armored, winged crystal appeared again, albeit more solid this time (300 ATK).

"It'll be destroyed at the end of my turn, but that's a non-issue. Now, I'm tuning my Level 2 Herald to my Level 6 Soul!" The orange Herald glowed before dissolving into 2 stars, which turned into green rings. Soul of Purity and Light flew in between them while Raymond started his own chant.

"_When injustice befalls the earthly realm, the heavens send an elite warrior to rid the calamity from the hearts and thoughts of men!_

"_Synchro Summon! Avenging Knight Parshath, descend!"_

From the sky, a grey, winged centaur with a halo on its back appeared. Charlotte noticed that, upon closer inspection, that there were 3 pairs of wings attached to the gold and aqua-colored armor it wore; a pair on both the front and back of the lower part and a pair on the upper part. Green orbs held the armor together as well as some of Parshath's own joints. He wielded a shield and sword (2,600 ATK).

"…That's it?" scoffed Lynn. "You'll have to do better than that! Colossal Fighter is way stronger than your knight!"

"That's true… on the offensive side. Parshath, do your thing!" Raymond commanded.

Artemis held his shield out in front of him. The green orb in the center glowed, and Colossal Fighter knelt on one knee and held its arms in a defensive stance (1,000 DEF).

"You made my monster switch positions?" said Lynn.

"That's right," said Raymond, "and that's only half of it. Avenging Knight Parshath inflicts piercing damage."

"…Oh, no…"

"Parshath, attack Colossal Fighter!"

The angelic being raised his sword…

"And I think I'll discard Honest from my hand while I'm at it." As he discarded the card, another angel with long, wavy hair dressed in a toga appeared behind Parshath.

"Now _you _get _this_: Honest boosts a Light monster's attack power by an amount equal to the attack of the monster it's battling until the end of the Battle Phase!"

Honest's hands glowed with an intense golden light, as did Parshath's sword (2,600 - 6,100 ATK).

"Oh, nice!" yelled Charlotte in amazement. Lynn couldn't look more terrified than she now was.

"Okay, Parshath. _Now_ you may attack. Seraphim's Sever!"

As Honest disappeared, Parshath slashed his sword creating a massive golden shockwave that cleaved through Colossal Fighter and continued until it hit Lynn's D-Wheel, causing two fairly large explosions_. _Lynn wailed in pain. (Lynn: 8,300 - 3,200 LP; SPC: 7 - 2)

The collision sent Lynn flying off her bike, still screaming. She hit the ground rolling as her D-Wheel skidded on its side, sending sparks flying across the asphalt. After three seconds, she stopped, seemingly unconscious.

"Lynn!" cried Raymond as he skidded to a stop next to her. "Are you alright? Answer me!" Sure, she was an enemy as of now, but he didn't want to injure anyone through his dueling.

_'Guess he made Parshath hit a little _too _hard,' _surmised Charlotte, as Parshath went back to its base ATK. Truth be told, she was secretly wishing for Lynn to be okay as well.

"Colossal Fighter's effect… ugh…"

To their surprise, Lynn, who knew she would be feeling the effects of that hit for at least a week afterward, got up slowly. She limped towards her D-Wheel, and lightly inspected the damage before mounting it again. Raymond was astonished. _She's not even thinking about her health, only the duel! She can't really finish in her condition… can she?_

"When it falls in battle… a Warrior is revived… ow… from either Graveyard," she said while clutching her stomach.

"Lynn, stop this duel!" said Raymond. "You're obviously hurt badly, and-"

"I feel fine enough to finish this duel! This is… nothing," she countered before wincing. _Physical pain, I can handle. It's what drives me that hurts the most in my heart. _"Now, I could bring back Colossal Fighter himself... but I won't do that.

"I Special Summon Freed."

The general reappeared as Lynn righted her D-Wheel, lightly revving it (2,300 ATK). She took off, enduring the now bumpy part of her ride.

"Can you believe the audacity of that woman?" asked Charlotte. "So damn stubborn."

"Yeah," Raymond quietly agreed. He took off after Lynn.

"I assume you're done?" asked Lynn.

"Yeah, after I set this card." A facedown appeared next to Raymond before disappearing.

"I draw… No, wait. I give up my draw to activate Freed's effect," declared Lynn. "Now I can add a Warrior to my hand, but its Level can't be more than 4."

'_I bet she's gonna get something that can take out Parshath,'_ thought Charlotte.

A card ejected from Lynn's deck. "Here it is," she smiled lightly as she placed the card on the gauntlet of her ride. "Exiled Force."

Her small grin turned into a deep scowl when Raymond's facedown lifted. "_Another _Drastic Drop Off!" she discarded her only card to the Graveyard.

**Raymond (LP: 3,850; SPC: 7) vs. Lynn (LP: 3,200; SPC: 3)**

Lynn sighed; she had no other cards to play. "Pass…"

Raymond drew to begin his turn.

**Raymond (LP: 3,850; SPC: 8) vs. Lynn (LP: 3,200; SPC: 4)**

"I activate the Speed Spell - Rapid Shot Wing!" he cried. "Parshath gains 100 ATK for every Speed Counter I have until the end of the turn."

Parshath's sword glowed again, but less intensely this time (2,600 - 3,400 ATK).

"Now, Parshath will switch Freed to Defense Position and attack!"

Freed knelt and held its sword to block Parshath's attack (1,700 DEF). The longsword broke as Parshath made contact and cut Freed, causing him to explode into pixels. (Lynn: 3,200 - 1,500; SPC: 4 - 3)

"I set a facedown," declared Raymond. "Next turn, I'm ending this."

Lynn drew. A glint of hope briefly appeared in her eyes.

**Raymond (LP: 3,850; SPC: 9) vs. Lynn (LP: 1,500; SPC: 4)**

"I activate Speed Spell - Angel Baton! I draw 2 cards and then discard one of them from my hand." She drew and looked hard at her options. If things went well, then she could make a comeback. Lynn discarded one card, her hopes soaring with it.

"I lay this facedown and end." A card briefly appeared next to her before Raymond drew.

**Raymond (LP: 3,850; SPC: 10) vs. Lynn (LP: 1,500; SPC: 5)**

"Time to finish this! That trap is probably something to get rid of Parshath, so I'll summon a second Bountiful Artemis for backup." He played a card, and another of the caped angels appeared (1,600 ATK).

"I can't believe you actually did what I needed you to do!" Lynn laughed. "I activate my facedown, Torrential Tribute!"

Between the two bikes, a giant watery vortex swallowed up Parshath and Artemis, sending them to the Graveyard.

"With your monsters gone, I could get back in this!" exclaimed Lynn.

Raymond smiled. To think, if he hadn't summoned Artemis, he'd be on the way home right now. Oh, well... A minute delay on his victory wouldn't hurt.

"You sure about that?" he asked Lynn, "I activate my facedown, Miraculous Descent! This time, I'm summoning Majestic Mech - Goryu!"

A white and golden serpent-like winged dragon materialized. Its body was segmented all the way to its tail.

"Where did that come from!" asked Lynn.

"Well, remember when I used Herald of Orange Light's effect early in the duel? It was the other monster I discarded for the effect," Raymond explained. "It was also one of the monsters I removed to summon Soul of Purity and Light.

"So far he's been something of a supporting cast. But now it's time in the limelight has come."

Goryu let out a massive roar (2,900 ATK)…

"No! It can't end like this!" shouted Lynn.

"Sorry, Lynn," said Raymond. "Put some ice on wherever it hurts and see a doctor when this is over. That fall was something else. Oh, and think about not judging people based on where they came from."

"You might have won this duel, but I will be back. I'm going to make it my mission to make your lives hell!" Lynn proclaimed.

"Well, seeing as I've _lived_ in hell for 14 years," quipped Charlotte, "I seriously doubt whatever you could do would amount to much."

"Goryu, let's get Charlotte home so I can take care of her," said Raymond. "Attack Lynn with Celestial Blaze!" Golden flames poured out of Goryu's mouth, blanketing Lynn and her ride. She grunted with pain. (Lynn: 1,500 - 0 LP)

**Final Score: Raymond (LP: 3,850; SPC: 10); Lynn (LP: 0; SPC: 5)**

Lynn's D-Wheel was forced to stop. With smoke coming from her D-Wheel, she could only watch as the two adversaries raced on.

"He had almost everything planned during that whole duel! This sucks, I swear!" She took a deep breath, wincing again as the pain reminded her of its presence. "Raymond, huh?… I will come for you when I'm 100% I'm going to take you and that filthy rat down.

"That's a promise!"

* * *

It only took Raymond five minutes to get to his one-story house. He pressed a button attached to his keys, opening his garage door. After turning off his D-Wheel, he got off, supporting Charlotte with one arm over his shoulders as they ambled into his place."

"Well, this is where I live," said Raymond as he turned on the lights to his living room. Charlotte took in the walls that were painted a creamy white, a 40' inch TV that stood on top of a stand with a blue couch facing opposite it. A glass coffee table was set near the couch, two tins of Duel Monsters cards set on it. A loveseat sat near another wall, which led to the kitchen.

Raymond laid Charlotte on the couch gently. "Can I get you anything?" he offered.

"Sure," replied Charlotte groggily. "What's in the fridge?"

"There's a hamburger that I was going to eat for breakfast. You want it?"

Charlotte nodded. Raymond went into the kitchen fridge, placed the hamburger on a china plate, and warmed it up in the microwave. He took a glass from the cabinet and poured some water with a couple of ice cubes in it. _'I really wasn't expecting to have company over tonight. And it looks like it's going to be an overnight stay at that.'_

After retrieving the burger, Raymond walked back into the living room to feed his guest. To his surprise, however, Charlotte had already passed out on the couch when he came in with the food and drink.

'_She must really be exhausted. __It'll have to wait then. Maybe I can get her story on how she got here tomorrow morning,"_ Raymond thought as he gathered Charlotte in his arms and headed to the spare bedroom. He laid Charlotte down on the bed, ruffled through the closet for some covers, and spread them over Charlotte. Raymond walked to the door and, with one last look at her, gently closed the door behind him.

As he walked further back to his own room, he thought about the earlier events that led to him bringing a girl home. _'Man, what a day it's been. For once, I'll have a story for those guys tomorrow.'_

_

* * *

_

_Next chapter:_

**Raymond: The morning comes, and I check up on Charlotte. My two comrades-in-arms come over to discuss our plans for the remainder of the week, and I introduce Charlotte to them. I have myself a friendly duel with our leader, Zack, who claims that he's improved his deck.**

**"The 'A' Forces" are coming up next on: "The Pursuit of Balance!"**


	2. The A Forces

**Author's Note**: And the second chapter of "The Pursuit of Balance" is up! ...Finally... Can't believe it took this long, but college exams cut into your time quite a bit. Luckily for me, there was one guy who kept urging me to finish the chapter. I want him to know that his motivation is greatly appreciated.

Once again, remember to utilize the three Rs: Relax, Read and Review.

**Disclaimer**: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds has something in common with Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series. I don't own them (so it'd be pointless to sue), but they are awesome! *checks YouTube* I wonder if the next episodes are up yet?

* * *

Chapter 2: The "A" Forces

Sunlight shone through the window of Raymond's spare bedroom, where Charlotte had slept the night. She began to slowly wake up from a dreamless sleep.

She was just so comfortable right now; she wouldn't care if and when her mother came in to drag her out of bed, fussing that she would sleep away her existence if she wasn't around.

'_At least I'm still existing. That's a miracle,' _Charlotte thought to herself. _'It's all thanks to Raymond that I'm still…'_

…Raymond.

She suddenly jolted awake, the events of last night a blur in her head. The long boat ride, running from Lynn, Raymond and his Avenging Knight Parshath obliterating Colossal Fighter, and helping her to his couch when they reached his house.

It was then she realized that she wouldn't hear her mother's voice; it was back in Satellite. She was now in Neo Domino City, in a stranger's bed and unsure of where she would go from here.

Charlotte closed her eyes and took a deep breath through her nose. She caught a whiff of bacon sizzling in a pan. Apparently, Raymond was already up and cooking breakfast. She threw the covers off of herself, wanting to fill her stomach with something decent in two days.

Still clad in her clothes from last night, she saw a note taped to the door when she reached it:

_Charlotte,_

_I hope you're feeling better this morning. You were knocked out on my couch, so I moved you into my spare bedroom. The clothes you're wearing probably need a wash, and I know how everyone needs a shower, so you're welcome to use mine. The restroom is just across the hall. On the dresser next to the door are some of my clothes you can wear after you finish. Leave your clothes in the hallway so I can put them in the washer. And stick around for breakfast so I can take you home afterwards, okay? I know your folks are probably worried about you._

—_Raymond_

Charlotte sighed after reading the last couple sentences. There was no way she could go back home; not after making it this far. She had left her own mother a note telling her she wanted to live in a place that was a hundred times better than the garbage heap that was Satellite. She was heading to Neo Domino City one way or another, and that she shouldn't look for her.

Well, Raymond was right about one thing. Her mother _was_ going to be worried sick. Her poor 20-year-old baby was M.I.A. to the world as far as she knew.

She would have to tell Raymond that she hadn't even spent a full day in unfamiliar territory. For now though, she would accept his hospitality as far as it extended. She picked up the clothes that were laid out for her: a blue shirt, khaki pants, and a pair of white boxers in a folded pile with a belt on top. She realized that they were a bit bigger than her own clothes. Shrugging to herself, she opened the door to wash away the grime from last night.

* * *

Raymond had a lot on his mind as well while trying not to burn the last two pancakes.

For one thing, that assassin… Lynn was her name. She was like most people in this city who hated those from Satellite. However, she seemed to have a plausible reason behind it, unlike everyone else that just did it because everyone else did. It had to be major if she would randomly try to take the life of one of them.

The thing was that they weren't even in the Daimon Area when he encountered her. Far from it, in fact. To Raymond's knowledge, most Satellite residents would wind up there after release from the Facility. Surely, when one person is on foot and the other was on a motorcycle, the chase couldn't have gotten _that_ far. So how could Lynn possibly know that Charlotte was an outsider? As far as he knew, nobody in the Daimon Area left there; there was nothing but hatred for them outside.

So why Charlotte?

After turning his stove off, Raymond heard Charlotte walk into the doorway that separated the kitchen and the living room. He turned around to see her leaning with one arm on the entrance, legs crossed, wet hair combed smoothly over one eye, in the clothes he picked out for her. He smiled to himself; she looked nice in them.

"Good morning, Charlotte," he greeted her.

"Morning," she replied back.

"I see you've read my note. You can bring me your other clothes after we finish eating." He set a plate of scrambled eggs, bacon, two pancakes drizzled with syrup, and a cup of water on the table and pulled out the chair out for her.

'_A gentleman!' _Charlotte thought to herself as she sat down and he pushed her forward.

Raymond then fixed his own plate before sitting down across from Charlotte. The two ate and drank in silence, stealing a glance at each other every now and then when they thought the other wasn't looking. Most were caught, but they kept it to themselves.

After they finished breakfast and Raymond had put Charlotte's clothes in the washing machine, he brought Charlotte into the living room so they could sit on his couch. He decided to take this time to initiate conversation.

"You slept okay last night, right?"

"Yeah. Thanks for taking care of me." She replied.

"No problem, really," he replied. "It's pretty rare that I have company over besides Zack and Siren."

"Who?"

"Oh, that's right, you don't know them. They're a couple of friends of mine. Listen, you're from Satellite, right? They have Duel Gangs there?" Charlotte nodded. "Well, we have them here in Neo Domino too, but they're just not as prominent as across the water."

"…You trying to tell me that you're part of one?"

"Yep," confirmed Raymond with a smile. "The three of us are a gang by ourselves, Team Aegis."

"Aegis?" laughed Charlotte. "What kind of a name is that?"

"Hey, you laugh, but it's basically another word for 'protection' or 'shield.' It's a good fit for what we do," Raymond explained.

"But aren't Duel Gangs supposed to go out and conquer everyone else? You can't do much of that if you're trying to so-called 'protect.'"

"That's the thing. I think we're the only Duel Gang that doesn't want to expand our territory."

"So how much territory _do_ you have?"

"About 9 city blocks, more or less." Raymond said without missing a beat.

The expression on Charlotte's face said that she didn't know what to say to that. Back in Satellite, there were gangs out there that had _plenty _more territory than that. These guys were satisfied with only 9 blocks? She thought they must not be very good duelists. But then she thought back to last night's duel and pushed that thought quickly to the side.

"Um… so are you the leader or something?" she asked.

"Heh heh… not me. I'm the best duelist in the group, but the leader is Zack. He offered to make me leader at least twice, but I turned him down every time."

"Why the heck would you do that?" Charlotte wondered aloud.

"I… just didn't want to be the leader. All I want to do is duel. I want to do my own thing without having to lead anyone else," Raymond said. "I may offer a bit of advice every now and then, but Zack has the final say in what we do and when, and that's fine with me.

"Now, these 9 blocks that make up our territory. In the center block is a card shop that used to be an abandoned factory in days past. It's called Cards, Circuits, and Collectables Coliseum, but we shorten it to C4," Raymond laughed, with Charlotte joining in. "Anyway, the place is huge on the inside. Plenty of room for plenty of people to summon out big monsters. There's even an underground sector currently being built for Riding Duels. C4 is our home base, and the reason why we made the group in the first place."

Charlotte, for her part, was listening intently to this glance into the young man's life. "You formed the team to protect that place, I assume?"

"Yeah. Think about it. If you were in a Duel Gang and you had a card shop in your territory, you'd try to milk it for all it was worth, right? You'd push for deals on rare cards, and basically act like you own the store. Most gangs would. But in doing so, others would complain about the forced favoritism and the shop would lose business because of the atmosphere of the place. Would you want to go somewhere where the people weren't considerate of you?"

Charlotte shook her head. "But you know what? I already came to a place where people aren't considerate of me."

"Really? Where?"

She had to resist the urge to sigh. "Neo Domino City. I'm from Satellite, remember?"

"Oh, yeah. So… how long _have_ you been here?" asked Raymond.

Charlotte inwardly cringed. How could she tell him that she had only arrived last night? He would know that she had nobody else to rely on and that she barely knew two people in this city; she was talking to one of them at this moment, and the other person wanted to end her life as soon as she saw her. Once she told him, she'd have to drag him into her future plans.

She feared that her hours-long streak of hospitality would end with her next sentence.

Charlotte's thoughts were broken as she and Raymond jumped at the sound of someone banging at the door. Raymond's question would have to be put on hold for a while. Fortune would smile upon her for a little while longer, it seemed.

"It's only 9:28 a.m. on a Friday morning," grumbled Raymond as he glanced at the clock on the wall. "Nobody sleeps in anymore..." Nevertheless, he got up to answer the door knowing full well who was behind it. Charlotte was torn between following him to the door and staying where she was. She opted for the latter.

Sure enough, Raymond was correct when he opened the door to reveal Zack. The green-eyed 17-year-old had his shoulder length blond hair perfectly straight, black sunglasses on top. He wore a white jacket with a gold shirt, black shorts, and matching shoes. He had cloth wristbands like Raymond's with a skull stitched in gold on each one. He was the same height as Raymond, but with an extra year, he'd probably be a bit taller soon.

"Zack, I thought you said that we were meeting at 11:30," said Raymond. "What are you doing here so early?"

"You know what they tell those of us still in school, right?" said Zack. "They say, 'If you're on time, then you're late. If you're early, then you're on time,' right?"

"You're early by _two hours_, man!" Raymond exasperated.

"Well, it's not like you ever have anyone else over…" Zack scanned the room to make sure. That was when his eyes landed on Charlotte.

What was this? A girl on Raymond's couch who wasn't the third member of Team Aegis? And… were those _his_ clothes she was wearing!

Zack burst out in laughter, but covered his mouth with his hands in a vain attempt to stifle it. Raymond sighed and glared at Zack, knowing what he was thinking. "It's not even like that, Zack. Her clothes got wet, so she's borrowing some of mine."

His teammate finally finished laughing. "I bet her clothes weren't the only thing that got wet," he whispered before howling in laughter again.

"Zack, shut up! She'll hear you!" Raymond silently admonished him. "And I'm not letting you in until you do so!"

Zack abruptly stopped laughing. For the six months of Team Aegis's existence, he never knew Raymond to act on his interests in the opposite sex. Sure, the dark-skinned lad would take a second glance at women that they saw, but he never had an actual girlfriend. Zack asked Raymond once why he didn't have one; his response was that he wasn't too sure of himself after his first girlfriend broke up with him after only six weeks. He was content to admire from afar. This way, nobody would get their feelings hurt, except for when they caught him staring and he would try to turn his head in the other direction.

So naturally, he wanted to meet this girl that Raymond would care so much for that he'd give her his own clothes.

When they walked into the living room, Charlotte looked up to see the new houseguest. Raymond introduced the two: "Charlotte, this is Zack, the guy I was telling you about. Zack, this is Charlotte. She's a friend from out of town who's come over to visit."

_'One and a half out of three'_, Charlotte thought. She _was_ from out of town, technically, but she was brought here for a place to rest, not a place to visit. Also, did he really consider her a friend already?

Nonetheless, she stood up and shook Zack's hand. "Nice to meet you. He's been saying good things about you."

"Nice to meet you, too. And good to know." He turned to Raymond. "If you don't mind, I called Siren to let her know I'd be on my way over here."

"Is her name really Siren?" Charlotte couldn't help but wonder.

"Her real name is Simone, actually," said Raymond. "We just call her Siren because of her hair, her eyes, and the way she screams Zack's name as loud as one whenever she sees him."

_THUMP THUMP THUMP!_

"That must be her right now. Let her in, Zack."

Zack strolled to the door. He turned the knob, and opened it to reveal…

"ZACK-KUUUUUUN!"

…Siren.

She practically leapt onto Zack in a crushing hug, almost bowling him over from the contact. No matter how many times she did so, he could never seem to ready himself for it.

"See what I mean?" Raymond told Charlotte. The blond could see where Siren got her nickname. She was short, only 5'5", especially compared to her own 6'1', but she easily stood out. Bright red hair, matching red eyes. Her skin was tanned, and she wore a simple gold dress held together by a white sash. She wore white shoes, and also had wristbands like her teammates'. A golden spoon adorned each one.

Siren peeled herself off of Zack. "So, best friend in the whole wide world, how is everything?"

"Everything's good here. But Raymond's got a girlfriend apparently," he misinformed her. "She's got his clothes on."

Siren brightened up even more, if it was possible. "Oh, really!" She brushed past him to the two other occupants in the room. "Hi, Raymond! Hi, Raymond's girlfriend!"

"Huh?" Raymond and Charlotte chorused. "She's/I'm _not _my/his girlfriend."

"Whatever you say~," lulled Siren as she strolled back over to Zack.

Raymond hung his head and gave a deep sigh. "I'm sorry about that, Charlotte. Those two like to conspire against me sometimes."

"S'ok. Friends are supposed to ruthlessly tease each other," she replied. "So, this is Team Aegis, huh?"

Zack and Siren looked at her. "Raymond told you about us, didn't he?" the redhead asked.

"Yeah. Apparently you guys aren't like every other Duel Gang I know of. I'd like to see this C4 that you guys hang around so much."

"We'll take you there later if you want," offered Zack. "Well, Raymond, I know it's early and all, but you wouldn't mind a duel right now, would you?"

"Have you ever known me to turn down a challenge?" Raymond replied.

"Of course not. I've made a few changes to my deck and wanted to see how they turn out before the turf battle this Sunday evening."

"Alright, then. Team Ballistic can hardly touch us now, but everyone needs improvement. Let's go outside on the lawn." Raymond opened the door, ushering his three guests out before closing the door after his exit.

* * *

Under clear skies with the sun peeking over the house as if it wanted to watch, Raymond stood facing Zack on the grass in front of his house, the walkway to his front door serving as a line to divide them. Charlotte and Siren sat on his front porch, waiting for the duel to get underway.

As the boys activated their duel disks, Charlotte spoke to Siren. "I've seen Raymond duel once. He has a really good deck."

"You have to be good to join us!" Siren beamed. "And Raymond's the best yet. Zack-kun is second, and I'm third. But anyone would have a tough time against us. Just ask our rivals, though I'm sure they'll feed you lies."

The blond nodded. "So who are you rooting for in this match?"

"Zack-kun, of course!"

"I should've guessed. I'd put money on Raymond, but I don't have any, so I'll put my faith in him instead. Worked once before, should work again."

Siren sent a confused look her way as Raymond and Zack stared each other down.

"So who goes first?" asked Raymond.

"You should," replied Zack. "I'd just love it if you sent one of my monsters to the grave with your signature opener."

"Are you still trying to accomplish that? You'll be fine otherwise and you know it. Well, until you hit zero anyway."

"One problem, though," replied Zack. "I won't hit zero this time. Now, let's have a good duel!"

"We definitely will!" agreed Raymond.

They both drew 5 cards.

"Duel!"

**Raymond: 8,000 vs. Zack: 8,000**

Raymond drew his 6th card and studied his options before making his move. "Nova Summoner, let's go!"

An floating orange crystal-like wreath with wings appeared. Wrapped around it was a green ribbon. A yellow appendage hung from the top of the inner circle; a light green sphere was embedded on it (1,400 ATK).

"I set two facedown cards and end my turn!" Both facedown holograms appeared behind Nova Summoner.

"Alright. Draw!" Zack glanced at the card he drew, then put it on his disk. "Pyramid Turtle, rise up!"

In an explosion of sand, a brown turtle appeared. It wore an ornate headdress, and the top half of its shell was shaped like a pyramid (1,200 ATK).

"I'm gonna take a chance here. Pyramid Turtle, attack Nova Summoner!"

Pyramid Turtle retreated into its shell and began to spin towards Nova Summoner, who charged a sphere in the middle of its body. It shot the ball of light and blasted the Zombie reptile in the air. The poor turtle was flipped upside down with the tip of its shell embedded in the ground before exploding into pixels. (Z: 8,000 - 7,800 LP)

"Why did he have his weaker monster attack?" Charlotte asked Siren. "He could've at least powered it up first."

"Simple," the redhead replied. "If Pyramid Turtle is destroyed in battle, Zack-kun summons a Zombie with no more than 2,000 DEF from his deck."

"And there are a LOT of Zombies who fit that bill," said Zack, overhearing their conversation. A card ejected from his disk; he snatched it with a flourish before playing it. "One of them is Vampire Lord!"

In an aura of darkness, an indigo-skinned vampire with yellow eyes appeared. His cape sparkled and was held together with claws. (2,000 ATK)

"Since it's still my Battle Phase, he'll succeed where my turtle failed."

Vampire Lord seemed to glide towards Nova Summoner, who shot another charged sphere. The bloodsucker transformed into a bat swarm to evade the attack and enveloped the Fairy. After a moment, the bats returned to Zack, leaving no trace of Raymond's Monster. (R: 8,000 - 7,400 LP)

"Really? No counter traps?" asked Zack.

"Nope," Raymond replied. "But since you destroyed Nova in battle, I can Summon a Fairy of the LIGHT Attribute with 1,500 or less ATK from my own deck. So, how about a second Nova Summoner?"

A second of the circular monsters appeared. (800 DEF)

"But now thanks to Vampire Lord, you have to send a specific type of card from your deck to your Graveyard," explained Zack. "Your Monsters and Traps are your lifeline, even in the grave. So I declare Spell."

Raymond shuffled through his deck to send Valhalla, Hall of the Fallen to the Graveyard.

"And now that that's done, I end with a facedown." A reversed card appeared in front of Zack. "Your move, Raymond."

**R: 7,400 - Z: 7,800**

Raymond drew. "I summon Harvest Angel of Wisdom!"

An mechanical angel made of yellow armor with green balls for joints appeared. Attached to its feet were large wings, and it held a small horn which also has wings attached to it (1,800 ATK).

"Next, an Equip Spell. Cestus of Dagla!"

In mid-air, two golden cestuses appeared in front of the angel. Harvest put down his horn and grabbed them (1,800 - 2,300 ATK).

"I'll switch Nova Summoner into attack position. Now Harvest, attack Vampire Lord! Celestial Cestus Slash!"

The angel took a fighting stance before charging at the vampire…

"Not that easily!" cried Zack. "I discard a card to active my trap, Raigeki Break! Now your monster hits the dust!" Zack's trap blasted lightning at Harvest, who struggled against it.

"Counter Trap!" Raymond replied. "Seven Tools of the Bandit! 1,000 of my Life Points negates your trap!" As Raymond's Life Points fell (R: 7,400 - 6,400 LP), Harvest broke free of the lightning, and finally slashed Vampire Lord who burst to ashes a second later. (Z: 7,800 - 7,500 LP)

"And thanks to Cestus of Dagla, I gain the Life Points you just lost in that battle!" Raymond glowed green for a brief moment. (R: 6,400 - 6,700 LP)

"Nova Summoner, direct attack on Zack! Cosmic Flash!"

The odd circular angel charged its attack and let loose on the Zombie duelist. (Z: 7,500 - 6,100 LP)

"Yeah! That's it, Raymond!" Charlotte cheered from his porch.

"Yeah, way to show off in front of your girlfriend!" added Siren.

Raymond groaned as he turned to Siren. "She's not-"

"You don't have to lie, you know," Zack told him. "Hey Charlotte, be honest. You two going together?"

"No, not at all," Charlotte said with a smile. "Just friends, I promise."

"You see? Just friends," repeated Raymond. "She is a looker, though."

Siren giggled as Charlotte tried to hide her blush by looking away. "Finish kicking butt already," the blond told Raymond.

"If you so desire," he replied. "Zack, I end my turn. Show me more of those improvements you made."

**R: 6,700 - Z: 6,100**

"I'll make you wish I hadn't," said Zack as he drew. 'First, I'll play Call of the Mummy!" The Continuous Spell appeared next to him. "If I don't have any monsters on the field, I can Special Summon a Zombie from my hand.

"Now, I'll bring out my strongest monster! Despair from the Dark!"

A fissure appeared in front of Zack. Out of it rose a red and purple shadow that was even bigger than Raymond's house. With elongated claws for hands and a sinister grin on its face, it cackled loudly (2,800 ATK).

"I'll place a card facedown, and my Despair will attack your Harvest!" cried Zack. "Slash from the Abyss!" The hulking shadow bared down on Harvest, slashing with its claws one good time, destroying the angel. (R: 6,700 - 6,200 LP)

"Oh, man. I feel sorry for Harvest," said Charlotte.

"Not me," Siren replied. "When Harvest is destroyed in battle, Raymond gets a Counter Trap from his Graveyard to his hand... but all he has is his Seven Tools, which Zack can play around now that he knows it's coming."

"I end my turn!" said Zack as Raymond added his Counter Trap back to his hand. "How are you going to get past my Despair?"

**R: 6,200 - Z: 6,100**

"I'll show you how," said Raymond as he drew his card. He looked at the four cards in his hand. _Just not this turn,_ he thought to himself. "I switch Nova Summoner to Defense position. Then I'll set a Monster and a facedown, ending my turn."

Nova Summoner floated a little closer to the ground (800 DEF) as two facedown cards, one in each zone appeared next to it.

"Way to get past Despair, Raymond!" Zack taunted as he drew. He looked to his powerhouse of a shadow. "Attack Nova Summoner."

Despair slashed; Nova shattered. Raymond summoned a 3rd in its place. Zack waved his hand, prompting Raymond to start his turn.

A glint appeared in Raymond's eyes as he looked at the card he drew. "Alright, Zack. This is how I get past your Despair! I'll tribute my Nova to summon Majestic Mech - Ohka!"

Nova turned into a glowing sphere, and the red and white mechanical winged hound leaped out of it (2,400 ATK).

"Attack Despair with Celestial Beam! Don't worry," he said as he flashed a card at Zack, "Honest will back you up."

Honest appeared behind Ohka while it was charging a beam. He added his own power to it (2,400 - 5,200 ATK) before Ohka let loose on Despair from the Dark, vaporizing it in a radiant surge of power. Everyone present had to shield their eyes.

When the light faded, Raymond saw Zack surrounded in a barrier thanks to his trap. "So, you activated Defense Draw, huh?"

"Yeah…" said Zack as the barrier faded. "You may have destroyed my monster, but I take no damage from the attack. I also get to draw a card." He drew his card, studying it. _I'll save this for later._

"Well, while your deciding what to do with that card, I'll end my turn," said Raymond.

Zack drew a card. "I know that's your Seven Tools facedown," he told Raymond, "so I'll activate Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy it."

He played the Spell, and a cyclone tore through one of Raymond's facedown cards, destroying it. Zack had guessed correctly.

"Hey, you remember when I activated Raigeki Break, right?" asked Zack. "I'll give you one guess as to what I discarded."

"…Mezuki?"

"Right on! Now, how about I remove it from play to Special Summon Despair from the Dark _again_!"

As Zack pocketed a card, a humanoid horse appeared wielding an axe appeared. It slammed the axe into the earth, creating a big fissure for Despair to rise from for the second time.

As Mezuki disappeared, Charlotte groaned. "Raymond! Can't you kill that thing for good!"

"Hey, it's not my fault he keeps bringing it back!" Raymond told her. "Zombies are hard to kill!"

"If you can fend off a mechanical titan, zombies should be nothing!"

Raymond looked back to Despair from the Dark. _I should consider Chaos Trap Hole or something. This is not looking good at all. I told Charlotte I'm the best duelist in the gang; I have to prove it to her somehow!_

"Despair, get your revenge on Ohka!" declared Zack. "Slash from the Abyss!"

The following rend attack on Ohka brought Raymond back to his senses. (R: 6,200 - 5,800 LP)

"That's all for me!" said Zack. "I told you you'd regret asking for more!"

**R: 5,800 - Z: 6,100**

Raymond drew his card… and frowned. _Majestic Mech - Goryu. Not what I was looking for. I could sacrifice my facedown monster to summon it and destroy Despair, but I'd be left wide open at the end of the turn. And what it he brings it back a third time after that!_

_So for now… _"I pass this turn."

Zack grinned as he drew. "Goblin Zombie, rise up!"

A weird-looking brown creature with a yellow exoskeleton appeared, wielding what appeared to be a scimitar (1,100 ATK).

"Despair, attack his facedown monster!"

Despair slammed its open claw on the facedown monster. When it pulled back, a light pink gelatinous substance was smeared on its palm. All the work of the monster it had tried to squash, a light pink blob with an upside-down smile where its eyebrows would be. Or was it actually a unibrow (500 DEF)?

"Marshmallon…" declared Zack.

"Yeah. Can't be destroyed in battle. And now you take 1,000 damage since it was attacked while facedown!"

Despair shook the gel off its hand, only for it to splatter onto Zack (Z:6,100 - 5,100 LP), prompting a snicker from the girls.

"You can take your turn while this stuff comes off of me," said Zack.

**R: 5,800 - Z: 5,100**

"Yeah, alright. Draw!" After looking at his card, Raymond set it in his Spell/Trap Zone and signaled the end of his turn.

Zack, now free of goo, drew his card. "Hey Raymond, how about a change of scenery?"

Raymond knew what was coming next, and it literally wasn't going to be pretty. "How about not?"

"Then it's agreed," said Zack with a smile. The Field Spell slot of his duel disk opened. "I activate the Field Spell, Zombie World!"

The sky grew dark as a purple mist rolled onto the field. The sun, now a little higher up, transformed into a blood red moon. A shiver went up Charlotte's spine as she stood up to look at the new surroundings. The nearby street was a crimson river, a tower with souls circling it was in the distance, and bones and pulsing masses of a repugnant substance were littered on the ground. Raymond's own house was now the Temple of Skulls. She froze in apprehension as a red spirit circled around her before flying towards the tower.

"Welcome back to Zombie World, everyone!" cried Zack, which prompted cheers from Siren, still sitting down. She was apparently unfazed by the gruesome environment. "To our first time guests- I mean you, Charlotte- please note that every monster on the field and in both Graveyards are now Zombies. Also, neither duelist can use tributes to regularly summon monsters unless they were Zombies at first."

Charlotte looked at Marshmallon. Its pink luster was replaced by a grey tint, and it's eyes were bloodshot red.

Zack revealed the only card in his hand. "This is Marionette Mite. By sending it from the field to the Graveyard, I can take control of an opposing Zombie for the turn." He slid the card in his discard slot. "Marshmallon, come to me!"

A black and blue insect-like creature with a grinning face appeared. It had legs for blades and its body appeared to be stitched together in places. It grabbed Marshmallon and floated over to Zack, dropping him in front of Zack before disappearing.

Zack turned his attention to the now-grey blob. "My monsters are going to attack Raymond, now. I want you to lead the charge."

Marshmallon, turned to Attack position (300 ATK), rolled into a sphere and slammed into Raymond. Goblin Zombie then jumped forward with a downward slash. Despair from the Dark put a claw into the poisoned ground, only for it to come up in front of Raymond in an upward piercing motion. Raymond staggered backwards from the three attacks and fell, clutching his stomach. (R: 5,800 - 1,600 LP)

"Raymond!" yelled Charlotte, still standing. "I know you got something in that deck that can turn it around! Get up and do something about this place!"

Raymond picked himself up and brushed dirt off his clothes.

"Oh, by the way, you have to discard the top card of your deck whenever Goblin Zombie inflicts damage," said Zack.

Raymond did so, grimacing as he sent Monster Reborn to his Graveyard. _'This duel is running away from me, and fast,'_ he thought.

"I end my turn. Marshmallon returns to your side of the field now."

**R: 1,600 - Z: 5,100**

Upon the zombie marshmallow's arrival, Raymond gave it a look. "Did it feel good?"

…

…No response.

"Whatever." Raymond drew his card. He saw lightning flash in the distance. '_Time to bring some of that over here.'_

"I activate Lightning Vortex!" he cried, playing the card. "I'll discard a card and destroy all your face-up monsters!"

Two large bolts of lightning descended upon shadow and goblin, obliterating them into shards.

"And stay down there!" Charlotte shouted.

"Huh?" Zack wondered. "…Oh. Despair from the Dark. Anyway, when Goblin Zombie is destroyed, I can add a Zombie with 1200 DEF or less to my hand." A card ejected from his deck, and he put it in his hand.

"Time for me to take the offensive!" declared Raymond. "I'm removing Ohka and a Nova from play to Special Summon Soul of Purity and Light!"

In front of Raymond, a grave appeared. The transparent angel with the ethereal glow rose out of it (2,000 ATK).

"Attack him directly! Spirit Radiance!"

Soul gestured, and Zack was bathed in holy light, stinging him and scattering the fog from around him. (Z: 5,100 - 3,100 LP).

"I'll have Marshmallon defend, and that'll end my turn." The blob scrunched up a little (500 DEF).

**R: 1,600 - Z: 3,100**

Zack drew. "I activate Allure of Darkness! I draw two cards… then I need to remove a Dark monster in my hand from play or else I lose my entire hand." He added two cards to his hand and pocketed Spirit Reaper, the card he grabbed with Goblin Zombie's effect.

"Now, how about more of those improvements? First, Call of the Haunted lets me Special Summon a monster from my grave."

The trap card sprung up, but surprisingly, Despair didn't make its appearance like Raymond expected. Instead, it was Pyramid Turtle.

"I could've brought back Despair, but what good would that do against Marshmallon?" said Zack, apparently reading Raymond's thoughts. "I have something even better in store for that guy.

"Now, I'll summon Plaguespreader Zombie."

Out of the fog, a grotesque, bloated purple zombie lumbered onto the field. Wearing an extremely tattered cloth, he was definitely a sight for sore eyes (400 ATK).

"Why summon something so weak? It either has a good effect or it's a Tuner," Raymond surmised.

"Both, actually," confirmed Zack. "Now, I'm tuning my Level 2 Plaguespreader to my Level 4 Pyramid Turtle!"

Plaguespreader belched out a large amount of gas, from which 2 stars appeared before it crumpled into a heap. As it disappeared, the two stars turned into rings which surrounded Pyramid Turtle…

"_Dragon once hailed as emperor, struck down only to be revived as undead royalty! The enemy within is yours to command!_

"_Synchro Summon! Arise, Doomkaiser Dragon!"_

In an explosion of blue flames, a gray, rotting dragon with no arms or legs appeared. It had a bone white exoskeleton which supported large wings, along with a segmented tail and a red core embedded in its chest. It gave a blood-curdling screech that resounded throughout Zombie World (2,400 ATK).

"Impressive, Zack," said Raymond. "But he's going to be struck down again." His facedown trap, almost completely forgotten, sprung up. "Black Horn of Heaven! This negates the Special Summon of one of your monsters and destroys it!"

Zack watched as Doomkaiser Dragon crumpled into ash. "Figures," he said. "Good thing I have a backup plan though. I activate the spell card, Book of Life!" A large green book appeared over his head. "Now I can Special Summon a Zombie in my grave and remove a monster from yours!"

The book opened, spilling out hieroglyphics that coalesced into a faint image of Harvest. A burst of light radiated through Zombie World, and Doomkaiser appeared after it died down.

_'So much for Black Horn of Heaven,'_ thought Charlotte.

"Alright, Doomkaiser. Show him what you can do!" commanded Zack.

The red core in Doomkaiser's chest glowed, and a portal appeared on the ground next to it. From it rose Majestic Mech - Goryu, who looked the worse for wear, a black mist rising from its orange body (2,900 ATK)…

"What's Goryu doing on your side?" questioned Raymond.

"When Doomkaiser is Special Summoned, I get to resurrect a Zombie in your Graveyard and bring it to my side of the field, for free," explained Zack. "To think, if you had removed Goryu to summon your Soul, Doomkaiser's summon would've been almost pointless.

"And since Goryu does piercing damage, it looks like you don't get to see your next turn."

"Oh, crap…" Raymond mumbled.

"Time to end this! Goryu, attack Marshmallon with Celestial Blaze!"

"Soul's effect reduces the ATK of opponent's monsters by 300 when the opponent attacks! Not that it matters now…"

Goryu (2,900 - 2,600 ATK) breathed a stream of golden flame crashed into Marshmallon and washed over it, coming down on Raymond as well. He yelled as he was attacked by his own monster, his strongest monster at that. (R: 1,500 - 0 LP)

**Final Score: R: 0 - Z: 3,100**

As the field returned to normal and the monsters disappeared, Zack walked over to Raymond, who was still recovering a bit from the final attack. He offered his hand and said, "Good game."

Raymond shook it. "You too, man. My facedown card didn't do anything for me. Why don't you have it as a reward for winning?" he said, offering Zack the card.

He took it and read the card's description. "Hmm… a Trap that gets even better when it's in the Graveyard. I'll give it a go."

Zack almost dropped the card as he was hugged from behind by Siren. "I knew you would win, Zack-kun!" she cried.

"Can't win 'em all, I guess," said Charlotte, walking towards the group. "You didn't do bad Raymond, all things considering."

"Yeah, I guess not," he replied. "I need to make a few changes in my deck…" Raymond stopped mid-sentence as he saw a brunette walking down the street, making a beeline for the group.

He frowned. "Siren, you might want to back off of Zack. His girlfriend is on her way over."

The team members let out a collective groan, Zack most of all. "Where does she get off?" he muttered under his breath. They all turned to face her, clad in a black tank top, matching pants, and brown sandals. Her hair was tied in a ponytail, held up by a pink ribbon. If she didn't look so furious she'd be beautiful.

"Zack! You got some damn nerve for what you did to me last night! To us!" she cried as she made her way over.

* * *

_Next chapter:_

**Zack: So, she knew where to find me. She's apparently not done insulting me after what happened last night.**

**Siren: It's not your fault, Zack-kun. Annoying as she is, you won't hit a girl, so how about I put her in her place?**

**Zack: But you never hurt people with your-**

**Siren: I wasn't talking about _that_... Zack-kun, you're my best friend, and Raymond and I both know how you _really_ feel about her... Let me handle the self-centered brat. Pleeeease, with sprinkles on top?**

**Zack: *sigh* I can almost never say no to you, Siren...**

**Siren: Alright! I've been waiting for this!**

**"Just Desserts" is coming up next on "The Pursuit of Balance"!**


	3. Just Desserts

**Author's note: Whew, finally back. School has been kicking my butt quite a bit recently. But now I'm here with a new chapter of TPOB just before finals! I hope you've been looking forward to it!**

**_Disclaimer:_ I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds. But we know this already. I only own my OCs.**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 3: Just Desserts**

"Zack! You got some damn nerve for what you did to me last night! To us!" she cried as she made her way over.

'_The nerve of this girl,'_ Zack thought to himself. "Hey, it's not my fault that I catch you cheating on me and beat the crap out of... Whoever the hell that was. I seriously cannot believe you blew off dinner with me last night to find you with all over… some guy like he paid you to be with him! What the hell, Juno?"

Raymond shook his head, Siren clenched her fists, and Charlotte was just stunned.

"Why would you care, anyway?" Juno shouted. "You're too wrapped up in your little team to pay any attention to me, and-"

"That's a lie and you know it! I made every effort to try to spend time with you! I even had to leave Raymond and Siren by themselves when I knew other teams would try for our turf that night. But they understood that I'd do my damn best to make you happy, even if I had to sacrifice a few things."

Juno crossed her arms. "You didn't sacrifice nearly enough for me. I am a woman, unlike some people who only look human on the outside."

Siren's eye twitched at that comment, but only slightly.

"…And I have needs as well. I wanted your undivided attention for this relationship. If you're going to be with _me_, then you give me your _all_. But it seems that every time I turn around, it's always about your team and not me. It's like you're married to your gang!"

"I've told you when we first started going together, Juno," Zack said, glaring into her blue eyes, "Team Aegis is a big part of who I am. That's not gonna change until we disband, heaven forbid."

"What the hell do you mean, 'heaven forbid?' You'd be so much better off without these losers. It could've been just us, you and me, the only perfect couple in this utopia of ours, but it looks like you have commitment issues with that. Seriously, you can't commit to _me _and _my_ sexy self? You make me feel like _her_!" Juno screamed, pointing with her arm.

Charlotte looked at Juno's outstretched arm. "And just who do you think you're referring to?"

Juno looked at her and realized that she was pointing at the blond. "Oh, sorry. I meant the little gremlin next to you."

Raymond had his hand on Siren's shoulder before she could even begin to make a move to silence the haughty girl. She looked up at him. _'Please, can't I just grate her face across the concrete one good time?'_ she asked him with her eyes.

'_She's not worth it,' _Raymond conveyed to her while shaking his head at her. _'Do you _want_ to prove her right about what she thinks of you?'_

Siren frowned at him. _'Fine, I'll back off… for now.'_

"Siren's just as good looking as you and then some!" Zack retaliated, not noticing the blush forming on the redhead's face. "And unlike you, she actually understands that the world doesn't revolve around one single person. Especially not you."

"It's _her_, of course she'd think like that with her flawed self," Juno countered. "You know something, Zack? I went out with you because you looked cool. I figure a guy as good-looking as you would be fun to hang out with. But you apparently can't judge a book by its cover. You were a big letdown after the first week. Not only have you not been there for me, but your taste in music is horrible, you have nothing in common with even regular people, and your friends are nothing short of abnormal…"

"Hey!" Siren protested, but Juno rounded on the her before she could say more.

"Especially _you_, Simone. There's no telling how many exorcists you've murdered in your life."

"I'm not a demon or possessed by anything!"

"Stop denying it. You know, admitting that there's something wrong with you is the first step to fixing your problem."

"I only have one problem. It's talking to me right now."

"You mean the voice whispering evil things in your ear?"

"No, you self-centered whore! You!"

"What did you just call me?"

"Siren!" Raymond cried. She looked over to him. "Don't lower yourself to this… this… whatever unhealthy thing she is… Don't stoop to her level. You're much better than she'll ever be, and you know it." He turned to his leader. "I'm sorry, Zack. But you know how I feel about your girlfriend."

"She's my ex-girlfriend now," Zack corrected him. "Don't apologize for how you feel. If she's been doing this since…" He turned to Juno. "How long have you been doing things behind my back, anyway?"

"Hmm…" Juno pretended to think long and hard about it. "We've been going together for four months, right?"

"Right…"

"I've cheated on you since two weeks into our relationship," she deadpanned.

Zack, suffice to say, exploded in fury. "Two weeks? TWO! Are you serious? I tried my damn hardest short of undergoing a personality change to make this work out, and all you've been doing is take, take, take! My time, my goals… you took the things I cherished and you practically spit on them! And… and for so long!"

'_Wow. Zack must've been really into her to not notice anything out of the ordinary with her,' _Charlotte thought. _'Why didn't she just break it off with him?'_

Zack didn't have much to rant about, it seemed. He took a deep breath, willing himself to be the cool, laid-back guy that his friends knew him to be. "You know something, Juno? I am so glad that I caught you when I did. My friends were right about you. Now I can devote my time to something better. I'll find someone who likes me for me."

"Yeah, good luck with that one!" Juno laughed. "You will never find anyone who's even half as good-looking as me! Of course, the best chance you would even have of findinganyone else who would want you at all is Raymond."

'_I don't hit girls, I don't hit girls,' _Raymond chanted in his mind. That remark near set him off. Charlotte swore she could see a vein on his forehead ready to burst.

"First off, Raymond and Zack don't play for that team," Siren said to Juno. "And second, looks aren't everything in a relationship. You have to possess a good attitude, look for common ground, and make sacrifices at times. Obviously, you couldn't do either one."

"Who in the hell are you to talk about relationships?" Juno shot back, getting in Siren's face. "And all this bull about common ground? The only thing you can relate to are those freak rejects you see in circuses out in the country! Face it: Heaven doesn't want you, Earth sees you as dysfunctional being, and Hell doesn't want the devil's daughter to usurp the throne from him!"

That did it.

Siren threw a punch at the short-haired brunette, who was caught off guard. She stumbled backward and fell. Juno checked her face with her hand and realized that her complexion was now ruined, thanks to the small amount of blood coming from her nose.

"You have _no_ idea how long I've wanted to do that!" yelled Siren. "The next one's gonna knock a couple of teeth loose!"

Juno slowly got up, wiping the blood on her sleeve with a visible rage in her eyes. With a battle cry, she charged at Siren… who simply raised a hand, causing her to freeze in her tracks. The only indication of any movement on Juno's part was her adrenaline-fueled breaths. She took a step back; Charlotte noticed it seemed forced. Another backward step. Juno's face was wrought with desperation as she continued to back up.

After a good amount of distance was put between them, Siren put her hand down and smiled. "Stepping back was the smartest thing you've ever done in your life, Juno. I honestly mean that."

Charlotte was surprised. She honestly expected to see Siren and Juno rip into each other like rabid dogs. And yet the redhead stopped any confrontation just by raising her hand. Just what was going on here?

"I'm surprised at you, Simone," said Juno. "I know for a fact that if you didn't have those losers around you, I would literally be in Hell right now."

Siren said nothing. Instead, she grabbed the duel disk attached to her backside, extended it, and held it out in front of her before letting it fall to the ground.

…But the accompanying thud was never heard. In fact, the duel disk didn't even land. Hovering just one inch from the ground, it slowly rose up in front of her. It transformed; the card zones of the disk split apart, and the orb was brought into the middle, giving the disk a star formation of sorts.

It was like the disk had a life of its own! Charlotte looked hard for any strings that would be attached. Finding none, she looked over to Raymond and Zack for an answer; their faces said that this was nothing out of the ordinary for them.

"I'm pretty sure Zack-kun has told you the extent of what I can do," Siren told Juno. "and in case he hasn't, let me enlighten you.

"I can't read minds. I can't project my thoughts onto others. I can't see the past or the future. I can't communicate with the dead. I can't make contracts with fiends. And as cool as it would be, I can't set things on fire by simply staring at them.

"The only thing I can do is move stuff with my mind: telekinesis. And you know something else? You were _this_ close to bringing me to hurt someone with it in eight years.

"Now, I vowed not to hurt you- or anybody else- with this power. But Zack tells me you duel, so I can kick your butt in one for compensation. What do you say?"

Juno glared. "What good is power if you won't use it to get what you want? If it were me, I'd lay you to waste without a second thought. But I'd never pass up an opportunity to humiliate my ex's freak of a best friend," she declared. "Raymond, give me your duel disk."

Raymond detached his duel disk from his arm and walked over to her. "You always were a conceited little girl. Here," he said, shoving his disk at her. "When Siren beats the crap out of you, you stay away from Team Aegis."

"Gladly." Juno scowled. She attached the duel disk to her arm and produced a deck that was attached to the leather belt she wore. She fit it in the disk, and the cards were automatically shuffled.

Raymond walked back over to Charlotte. "So, Siren has powers?" the blond asked.

"Yeah," he replied. "Does it bother you?"

"Honestly, I-I don't know what to think about it," said Charlotte. "I've never actually met anyone who could do that before."

"Well, just know this: The telekinesis is only one part of Siren. While it's her defining feature, there's much more to her than that. If people looked past it, they wouldn't see a monster hellbent on getting her way. Only a girl who wants to be treated like… a normal person.

"With Juno, though… She's a bad person to her core, but she fools people with her looks. I've told Zack over and over that she didn't really care for him. Now he's found out the hard way."

Zack was standing a little off to the side. _'If Juno didn't really want to be with me anymore, then why didn't she just say so? It would've been much better than leading me on with false words while sneaking around. Four months of my life wasted. And even though Siren wants to give payback in my place, it won't fully make up for it.'_

He quickly focused his attention back to the duel that was about to ensue. Siren and Juno had already drawn their 5 cards.

"Duel!"

**Siren: 8,000 vs. Juno: 8,000**

"Beauty before demonic powers, Simone." Juno drew a card to start. "Gemini Soldier! Limelight!"

She played a card on her disk, and a small, pale warrior with spiky green hair wearing a green and gold aviator outfit appeared on the field. A white scarf was around his neck, and he held what appeared to be a toy airplane with a propeller attached to the back (500 ATK).

"I'll set two cards and end my turn." Two facedown cards appeared behind her monster on either side of it.

"So, Gemini monsters, huh?" Siren drew a card. "I can handle that! Destructotron, I'm counting on you!"

As she played the card, a four-legged machine appeared in front of Siren. Above its legs, it vaguely resembled a humanoid body, aside from the green core in its chest and the monitor that served for the head. The screen switched on, the head of a purple-skinned, evil-looking madman graced it (1,600 ATK).

"I'll use it's effect now. By paying 1,000 LP, I get to destroy a Spell or Trap card on the field. Destructotron, the one on the left!"

As Destructotron charged a sphere in one of its hands (S: 8,000 - 7,000 LP) and threw it at the targeted card, Juno smirked. "I'll chain that card! The Quick-Play Spell, Unleash Your Power! Gemini Soldier is now treated as an Effect monster!" Gemini Soldier took on a green aura around its body.

"Well, in that case," Siren replied, "I'll have Destructotron destroy that other facedown you have now."

Destructotron charged another sphere (S: 7,000 - 6,000 LP) and hurled it, destroying Juno's other facedown.

"Now, attack! Scion Pulse!"

Destructotron charged up two spheres this time, combined them into a bigger one, and let loose on Gemini Soldier. The Warrior was sent flying several feet, but managed to get back up after some effort. (J: 8,000 - 6,900 LP)

"Gemini Soldier's effect allows him to survive a battle once every turn," Juno explained. "And every time he battles, I can Special Summon a low-level Gemini monster from my deck afterward.

"So come on out, Goggle Golem!"

A tan golem with red goggles around its neck appeared next to Gemini Soldier. It had a grotesque face and wore black gloves and black leather pants, which were both studded with spikes (1,500 ATK).

Siren looked at her hand. "I'll set two cards of my own facedown and end my turn. That means Destructotron is destroyed since he's the only Psychic-type on my field."

"_What did you say?"_ Destructotron turned to face Siren, and the madman's teeth bared before the screen shut off and the quadruped machine exploded.

Juno laughed. "Good to know! But Gemini Soldier has to be flipped facedown now, thanks to the effect of Unleash Your Power!" Gemini Soldier vanished and was replaced with a facedown card.

**S: 6,000 LP - J: 6,900 LP**

Juno drew her card and looked hard at it. She then surveyed the field before making her move. "Goggle Golem, Gemini Summon!"

The golem placed its goggles over its eyes and took on a brown aura (1,500 - 2,100 ATK).

"Nice little boost, huh? Now, my golem! Pummel Simone with Rock Ravisher!"

Goggle Golem ran towards Siren, it's arm raised high…

"I activate a Quick-Play Spell of my own!" Siren cried as one of her facedown cards lifted. "Emergency Teleport! Now, I can Special Summon a Psychic-type monster that's Level 3 or lower from my deck.

"I'm summoning Krebons!"

A portal appeared in front of Siren. Out of it jumped a jester-like monster dressed in gold, white and purple. Its arms, legs, and head were unattached to its torso, which seemed to be split in two itself. Nevertheless, he grinned madly while juggling what appeared to be green Tetris pieces (1,200 ATK).

"I thought witches summoned stronger stuff than that," Juno mused. "Not that I have a problem with it… Goggle Golem, destroy it."

"Krebons, now!"

Siren's life points fell once more (S: 6,000 - 5,200) as Krebons erected a psychic shield around itself using the puzzle pieces as the outer rim, blocking Goggle Golem's attack.

"You should've lost more Life Points than that… and why is your monster still there?" Juno demanded.

"That's all Krebons's doing," Siren explained. "When it's being attacked, it can negate that attack. And it only costs me 800 LP to do so.

"Now, Emergency Teleport would remove Krebons from play at the end of the turn. So I'm going to activate my trap, Compulsory Evacuation Device, and return it to my hand instead." Siren's other facedown lifted, and Krebons was encased in a launching pad. The juggler blasted into the sky as Siren placed its card into her hand.

Charlotte had a questioning look on her face. "Wouldn't it be better to send that golem back to Juno's hand? If it had to be summoned twice to get its effect…"

"That would've been just a temporary solution." Charlotte and Raymond turned to Zack as he made his way over. "Siren is saving her monster for something better in the end."

"Zack," Raymond acknowledged. "You good, man?"

"Yeah. It's not the first time I've been in a relationship that went nowhere. I wonder, why do people even bother sometimes?"

"Because it's romance. It does stuff to some people," Charlotte quipped. "It blinds them to any misgivings about the other person when you first experience it, and it drives them to do things that a person wouldn't normally do."

"So, in other words…"

"It's powerful, and mind-altering if you're not careful. You're young though; I think you'll learn from your failed relationship in time True love is out there for everyone, I think."

Raymond smiled at Charlotte. "Speaking from experience?"

"…A little," the blond relented, hanging her head a bit.

Juno looked at her field, then to her opponent. '_Is Simone planning to use that grinning clown to stall? It doesn't really matter to me. The way she's burning through her Life Points like that, it won't take anything but one good blow to end it all.' _"I'm going to lay this facedown," she said as a facedown card appeared in front of her. "Your move."

**S: 5,200 LP - J: 6,900 LP**

Siren telekinetically drew her card and looked at it. "Nice! I'm activating Teleport! Now, if you have a monster on your field and I don't, this Continuous Spell lets me pay 800 LP to Special Summon a Psychic-type from my hand.

"You've seen this guy before, right?"

As Siren's LP fell yet _again_ (S: 5,200 - 4,400 LP), Krebons reappeared.

'_She Special Summoned it?' _thought Juno. _'So I was wrong about her strategy!'_

"Now I summon Mind Protector!"

Next to Krebons, a small, yellow and purple robot appeared. It had purple gems embedded in its palms, which probably explained the faint energy emanating from its hands (0 ATK).

"While it's on the field, monsters with 2000 or less ATK can't attack at all, unless they're Psychic-type."

"Well, it's a good thing my Goggle Golem is just beyond that limitation," Juno replied.

"Good point," said Charlotte.

"Moot point," Raymond responded, knowing what was to come.

Siren smirked. "Well, it's a good thing that Krebons is a Tuner monster. Now, I'm tuning my Level 2 Krebons to my Level 3 Mind Protector!"

The cubes floating around Krebons formed a ring surrounding it. Krebons fed off their energy and vanished into two stars, which turned into rings that enveloped Mind Protector as it faded into three stars.

"_AI plus IQ equals unparalleled ability! The union between mind and machine… witness its beauty!_

"_Synchro Summon! Appear, Magical Android!"_

A beam of light fell from the sky. Stepping out of it was a woman with long, red hair dressed in blue, yellow, and white robes. Wires with green orbs were attached to the back of her head and joined to the rest of her clothes. She bore an odd-looking sword and an even weirder-looking shield with prongs in the middle (2,400 ATK).

"Magical Android, attack Goggle Golem! Radioactive Flourish!"

The android waved her sword, and a large green fireball flew at Goggle Golem, incinerating it upon impact. (J: 6,900 - 6,600)

"I'll place my last card facedown and end my turn. Now Magical Android gives me 600 LP for every Psychic-type on my field."

Magical Android held her sword high, and small green orbs rained down on Siren. (S: 4,400 - 5,000 LP)

**S: 5,000 LP - J: 6,600 LP**

Juno drew her card. "So you _can _summon a monster that'll last after the end of the turn. But let's see how you like this. I activate the Spell Card, Polymerization! I'll fuse two Gemini monsters in my hand!"

Above her, images of two monsters appeared: Lucky Pied Piper- a young forest elf with short green hair holding a wooden flute, and Aquarian Alessa- a young girl with blue hair wearing a short white robe and holding water lilies. They swirled together, and an explosion occurred…

"Fusion Summon! Superalloy Beast Raptinus!"

From the remains of the explosion, a dragon appeared. Its entire body was literally stitched together from various other multicolored monsters in the shape of a dragon, anyway. It was extremely ugly. (2,200 ATK).

"What are you up to?" asked Siren. "That dragon can't defeat my Android!"

"It doesn't have to," Juno replied. "But that's not the point. Raptinus gives all Gemini monsters their effects as soon as they're in his presence. That means I don't have to spend extra summons for them to do their thing.

"Now, I'll summon Future Samurai! Limelight!"

She played a card, and a young woman with short, black hair and a katana appeared. She was dressed in a blue robe with tatters in the back, complete with silver gauntlets that rose up to her upper arms and a blue visor over her eyes (1,600 ATK). She took on a blue aura.

"Since Raptinus unlocks her effect without a second summon, I'll use it. By removing a monster in my Graveyard from the game-" She removed her Goggle Golem and placed it in her pocket- "I get to destroy a face-up monster."

Future Samurai pointed her katana at Magical Android. Lightning shot out of the blade, and the Psychic monster screamed in pain before shattering into pixels.

"I'm glad that eyesore is out of the way!" cheered Juno.

Charlotte rolled her eyes. _'That dragon of hers is more of an eyesore than anything I've seen in my life. And I've lived among eyesores for a long time.'_

"Now, Future Samurai! Attack Simone directly with Bushido Razor!"

Future Samurai charged at Siren and made three fluid slashes with her blade. (S: 5,000 - 3,400 LP)

"Raptinus, your turn. Homunculus Static!"

Raptinus breathed lightning from its jaws at Siren, who yelled as it hit her. (S: 3,400 - 1,200 LP).

"Siren!" Zack cried. "Hang in there!"

Juno turned to him. "Look at you, supporting the freak. You should be glad I'm doing this. People like her don't have a place in this world. The sooner she learns that lesson, the better."

Siren glared at her opponent. "It's people like you that are the cause of so much misery in this world. Just because you don't like me, it doesn't mean I should stop existing."

"Yeah, the world doesn't work like that, unfortunately," remarked Juno.

"Everyone has a right to be here on this Earth, Juno. Even egotistic bitches like you. And even though I can't make you stop hating me, it won't change what I plan to do with my life or my attitude about it.

"You only want to see people like me and Zack suffer. All he did was try to give you happiness at the cost of his own. And you show your appreciation by deceiving him with false actions of love and treating him like a dog on a leash! Not to mention all the derogatory crap you've been spouting about his friends every chance you get."

"…Are you done ranting yet, freak?"

Siren sighed. _'You just can't get through to people sometimes…' _"Is it my turn yet?"

"Yeah, make your move," said Juno. "You know, at first I was scared to duel you because of your powers and stuff. But look at this situation: I have three monsters on the field, and all you have is a facedown card that can't even stop my attacks. I also have _way_ more Life Points than you do. It looks like you're all bark and no bite when it comes to dueling."

"Oh, I'll show you some bite," promised Siren. "Draw!"

**S: 1,200 LP - J: 6,600 LP**

Siren held her drawn card in front of her with her powers. "It's actually a good thing that my Life Points are lower than yours right now. That means I can activate my facedown." Siren's facedown card lifted, revealing itself to be… "Psychic Trigger. Now I can remove two of my Psychic monsters in my Graveyard from play to draw 2 cards." She removed Magical Android and Krebons and telekinetically threw them to Zack. "Hold those for me, please."

"Sure," he said.

Siren drew her two cards and looked at them. "Perfect! I'm going to activate D. D. R. - Different Dimension Return! By discarding a card from my hand, I can Special Summon a monster of mine that's been removed from play.

"Zack! Hand over Magical Android!"

Zack held the card out to her. She grabbed it with her powers, played it, and Magical Android reappeared with a smile.

"She won't be alone, either. I'm summoning Psychic Snail to accompany her!"

A gold and purple snail with a humanoid upper body appeared. It had yellow orbs on its upper body and its shell (1,900 ATK).

"I'll use my Snail's effect. By paying 800 Life Points, I can forfeit its attack this turn to give another Psychic-type the ability to attack twice from now on."

As Siren's Life points dipped dangerously low (S: 1,200 - 400 LP), the orbs on Psychic Snail's shell began to glow even brighter. Magical Android glowed yellow briefly as well.

"Magical Android, take out Raptinus and Future Samurai!"

The android conjured up two green balls of fire with her sword and launched them at the dragon and the samurai. Juno's monsters were burned to cinders. (J: 6,600 - 5,600 LP)

"I end my turn," said Siren, "and with two Psychics present, Magical Android gives me 1,200 more Life Points." More green orbs rained down on Siren. (S: 400 - 1,600 LP)

**S: 1,600 LP - J: 5,600 LP**

'_I've got to get rid of that Android. It's the only thing keeping her in this game!' _thought Juno. She drew her card. "I'm going to tribute my facedown Gemini Soldier…" Juno's facedown monster vanished.

"…And now I'll summon Chthonian Emperor Dragon!"

A large bonfire appeared in front of Juno. Rising out of it was a grey and green dragon with a white exoskeleton. It had two large wings in place of arms, and two smaller wings where its legs would've been. An orange orb was embedded in its chest (2,400 ATK).

"Do you see this, Zack?" Juno taunted. "Even though they're two versions of the same monster, my Chthonian Emperor Dragon and your Doomkaiser Dragon illustrate the difference between you and me. I'm alive, healthy, majestic, and simply better than you. You're just… everything I'm not."

"So, I'm not a superficial shell of a person who has no idea what it means to be a human being," Zack countered. "I'm not a person who plays with peoples' emotions to justify my existence. I'm also not a fake in a world full of real people. You know, I think I like being everything you're not."

"You think you're so smart, huh? You had better be glad you're not in Siren's position."

"You're the one who should be glad. I can defeat you much quicker than she can."

Juno couldn't look more red in the face if she wanted to. She refocused on the duel. "Chthonian Emperor Dragon, attack Psychic Snail! Furnace Blast!"

Flames spewed from the dragon's mouth, engulfing the snail and burning it to a crisp. (S: 1,600 - 1,100 LP)

"That ends my turn," said Juno. "It won't be long before I get rid of your Android for a second time!"

'_Chthonian Emperor Dragon can only tie with Magical Android for now, but I have a good feeling about my next draw! Next turn, Simone is through!'_

**S: 1,100 LP - J: 5,600 LP**

Siren drew her card, holding it in front of her. A glint appeared in her eyes. "Something tells me that you won't get the chance. I equip Magical Android with Psychic Sword!"

She played the Spell Card, and a jagged sword with orbs embedded in the spiky hilt descended from the sky. Magical Android put her own sword down and grabbed it; the green-white blade gave off a faint pulse when she retrieved it.

"Since my Life Points are lower than yours, Magical Android gets an ATK boost equal to the difference," Simone explained.

Juno checked both of their Life Point totals… and blanched. "NO! This… I can't…"

"Don't worry," said Siren, "the boost caps out at 2,000 ATK."

Magical Android surged with energy (2,400 - 4,400 ATK)…

"But it's more than enough to overkill your dragon! And don't forget that Magical Android has a second attack after that, thanks to Psychic Snail.

"You know what? I retract my earlier statement. You _should_ worry."

Oh, Juno was worried beyond belief. She fell to her knees and sent a silent prayer towards the sky. _'I don't wanna die, I don't wanna die! To whoever higher power is out there, please let me live and I'll set things right, I promise!'_

"Magical Android, behead that dragon!" Siren commanded.

Siren's Synchro monster telekinetically lifted the sword, and spun it towards Chthonian Emperor Dragon. The blade made a clean slice through the neck, and the slain dragon burst into pixels. (J: 5,600 - 3,600 LP)

"And now for its owner!"

The Psychic Sword hovered over Juno. Magical Android gestured, and Juno screamed bloody murder as the blade descended upon her like a guillotine. (J: 3,600 - 0 LP)

**Final Score:**

**S: 1,100 LP - J: 0 LP**

Juno caught her breath as the holograms vanished. "I… I'm still alive! But… was she toying with me? I thought she could make those cards come to life, like really! No… she can't have _that_ much power."

"Still… I can't believe she pulled a comeback like that! If I only had a different facedown, I would've won!"

Raymond came up to her. "My duel disk, please." Juno grabbed her cards, took the disk off and shoved it to him, much like he did to her earlier. "Thank you. Now, can you get off my yard?"

Juno huffed at him. "You tell that witch that this isn't over."

"She's floating right behind you," Charlotte observed. Sure enough, Juno turned around to face Siren hovering in mid-air.

"As much as I don't like you," she started, "you almost had me there. Next time, you won't have it so easy to start."

Juno, for her part, said nothing. Instead she glared at the redhead before walking down the street in the direction from which she came.

"Well, that takes care of her," said Siren, making her way over to Zack. "Are you okay, Zack-kun?"

Zack nodded at her. "Yeah, I'll live. By the way, thanks for hitting her for me."

"No problem," Siren replied, giggling.

Charlotte slightly nudged Raymond. After getting his attention, she whispered in his ear. "Siren is seriously into Zack."

"I've known that for 6 whole months," he replied. "Tell me something I don't know."

Charlotte frowned when he said that. "In all honesty, I was going to when your friends came over. Would you like to know now or do you want to wait until your friends leave?"

"It sounds pretty urgent. Best to get stuff like that out of the way quickly," said Raymond. He looked over to his teammates. "Siren, Zack. I'm going to talk to Charlotte for a few minutes about something, okay?"

"Alright, then," Siren responded. "Have fun making out!"

Raymond smirked. "You too." He burst out in laughter as Zack and Siren looked away from each other, blushing.

* * *

A minute later, Charlotte and Raymond were seated on his couch again.

"Alright, Charlotte. What was the important thing you wanted to tell me?" Raymond inquired.

Charlotte fidgeted in her seat. She honestly didn't know how Raymond would take this bit of news. "Um… Do you remember the last thing you had asked me when we were talking?"

"Yeah, I think so. I asked you how long you been in Neo Domino City. I'm guess it hasn't been long, huh?"

Charlotte sighed. _'Might as well come out with it…' _"If by 'not long' you mean 'less than 24 hours,' then yeah."

"Huh?" Raymond's eyes widened in surprise. "You mean to tell me that you haven't even been here a whole day?"

"That's what I mean to tell you…" The tall blond sighed again. "When you had found me being chased by Lynn, I was only 10 minutes out of the water. I rowed all the way across from Satellite. Took me a day and a half, and it was hell… no. It was suicide."

Raymond gawked at her. Charlotte was one determined girl, and she had endurance to boot.

"My mother always said that the only way a Satellite could get into Neo Domino was to get arrested and thrown into the Facility," Charlotte pressed on. "Once you got out with a marker burned onto your face, there was no way you could life the life you dreamed of, unless that life was a petty existence.

"But I told her that one day, the people of Satellite and Neo Domino would come together again, and things could be just like they were before the Zero Reverse occurred. Change is inevitable, you know. However, I didn't want to wait. The hours my mother had to go through just to set food on the table… they decreased almost every year. I knew it wouldn't be long before we became vagabonds and had to live off of other people's generosity. And generosity is a virtue that's generally lacking in most people living in a wasteland.

"I didn't want that for my mother. She worked so hard to raise me, and the last thing I wanted to be was a burden to her after all that she went through for me."

"So that's when you got the idea of leaving her behind to try to make it to Neo Domino. First things first, congratulations on making it," Raymond applauded. "I don't think I know of anyone who would be able to endure all that. Second, you're pretty damn lucky I found you when I did. It would've honestly sucked if Lynn had murdered you after getting here. Third, what are you going to do now?"

That particular question had been in the back of Charlotte's mind since she woke up this morning. "I… I have no idea what I'm going to do from here. I appreciate your generosity, Raymond. Without it, I wouldn't be alive today. But, where do I go? I don't know where a damn thing is in this place. I don't want to end up homeless and wait in soup lines near the Daimon area. And out of the five people I've seen in this city, only two people know the truth about me, and one of them wants to knife me in the heart for it." She stared intently into Raymond's eyes. "Raymond. If anyone asks you, please don't tell them the truth about me."

The brown-skinned lad smiled. "You have my word."

Charlotte breathed a sigh of relief; she could tell he was honest in his answer. "Listen, do you know of any place I can possibly go that'll take me in without question?"

"I'm not sure," Raymond told her. "You're here all by yourself, haven't really held a decent conversation with anyone except me, and nobody knows what'll happen if Lynn finds you when I'm not around.

"I'll tell you what. I've taking a liking to you, so I'll allow you to stay with me for a while until you can find some balance in your life."

Charlotte gasped. Raymond was offering her his house to stay in? A refuge in unfamiliar territory? "But… no, I can't do that. I've troubled you enough as it is. Can you possibly even-"

"Charlotte," Raymond interrupted. "If I didn't think I could have you as a housemate, I wouldn't have made the offer. And don't worry about the money, I have a good amount put up in accounts and such."

"But… I have to do _something_ around here. I don't like the idea of being a freeloader."

"Hmm… off the top of my head, I can't really think of anything that you could… Wait. Can you cook?"

"Um… yeah, a little."

"Can you clean?"

"Sure, why not."

"Can you watch the house while I'm out?"

"Of course I will!"

"Can you look good while doing all of the above? Wait, wait… I'm pretty sure you can." Charlotte blushed at his statement. "Alright, then. Charlotte... Um, what's your last name?"

"Wilde. W-I-L-D-E," she responded.

"Okay. Charlotte Wilde. For the benefits of room and board as well as food in the refrigerator, I, Raymond Collins, hereby take you in as my housemaid!"

"Oh, thank you so much!" Charlotte was almost in tears. She had found a place to stay in Neo Domino, and within 24 hours, no less! "You don't know how much this means to me!"

"Well, I fig-" Charlotte tackled him on the couch and pressed her lips onto his, cutting off his statement.

Of course, that was bad timing on her part. Zack and Siren had opened the door and walked in on what they thought was an impromptu make-out session.

"Oho! Look at this, Siren!" cried Zack as the two on the couch sat up quickly and scooted to opposite ends of the couch. "No, no, no. Don't stop on my account."

Siren used her powers to bring them closer together and wrapped their arms around each other. "I love you, Charlotte," she said while mimicking Raymond's voice… and his lips. She proceeded to do the same with Charlotte and her voice. "I love you too, Raymond-kun. Oh, do me! I wanna have a hundred children by you!" Siren and Zack burst into endless laughter, clutching onto each other for support.

Thanks to Siren's inability to keep her composure, Raymond and Charlotte were freed from her telekinetic grip. _'What am I going to do with those two?'_ he thought as he walked over to the duo who was now on the floor at this point, still cracking up.

"It wasn't like that, you guys. I let Charlotte stay with me for however long she's going to be in town so she wouldn't have to rack up hotel bills."

"And she got so ecstatic that she just up and kissed you? Yeah, likely story," replied Zack, coming down from his laughter. "Only couples kiss like that."

"I won't admit that Charlotte is my girlfriend, because she's not. And besides, I could almost swear you two were on my roof kissing."

"Well, it's not like you have any proof if we actually were," countered Siren. "Oh, I'm not gonna let this go for a long time."

Raymond sighed. _'That's what teammates are for.'_ Looking over to Charlotte, he shrugged. She simply smiled at him.

* * *

_Next chapter:_

**Raymond: Charlotte, are you ready to see C4?**

**Charlotte: Sure! You guys told me that the building is pretty big.**

**Siren: Oh, you have no idea. It's the perfect place to duel!**

**Zack: Not to mention that the guy in charge is a cool cat. Trust me, Charlotte. You're going to love this place!**

**"Kaiser Colosseum" is coming up next on _"The Pursuit of Balance!"_**


	4. Kaiser Colosseum

**Author's Note:**Oh, jeez. It seems like I haven't had much time for anything. I am an abysmal, dismal failure at updating, I know. Four chapters in and... this (and my other stories) deserve to be updated much faster than they are now. Maybe I'll be able to get some things done over Spring Break... So anyway, the new chapter is up; Read, Relax, and Review. Whether it's compliments or criticisms, they can do nothing but help my writing.

_**Disclaimer:**_You do know that I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds, right? Nor will I ever be worthy of owning it, seeing as I suck at dueling IRL...

* * *

**Chapter 4: Kaiser Coliseum**

While Team Aegis started their day off with a couple of duels, Lynn was resting in bed.

She wasn't asleep; far from it. She had been staring at the cream-colored ceiling for at least an hour now. Her mind, however, was going a mile a minute concerning yesterday and last night.

She loved her job… well, her _former_job… more than anybody. Sector Security were the people who kept order in Neo Domino. They were the ones who went out of their way to make sure that this utopia didn't dissolve into anarchy. It saved her life eight years ago, and now it _was_ her life.

If she was asked what the best part of her job was, it was hunting criminals down. It gave her a sense of satisfaction, a way for her to feel accomplished whenever she brought one into custody. It was good knowing that there would be one less criminal off the streets when she did her job. And even if they were released, a mark would be grafted onto their faces so they could be easily tracked down again if need be.

But no matter how many criminals were brought to justice, she could never be fully satisfied until-

"Lynn! Can I come in?"

Lynn smiled a little bit at the youngster's voice. "Yeah, Landon. Come on in."

The door opened, and Landon, dressed in all black with a cap showing the insignia for one of the most popular video games in existence, stepped in carrying a bowl of cereal with a spoon in it. He had turned 12 a week ago. He had the same green eyes as Lynn, but while she inherited their father's long and blond hair, he had their mother's short brown hair which barely reached his neck. Lynn loved her brother to pieces, and raised him from infancy after the untimely death of their parents.

Landon set the bowl of cereal on the nightstand next to Lynn's bed. "So, how long are you going to be on vacation?"

"Indefinitely," she replied. Lynn couldn't muster the heart to tell him that she got fired the day before yesterday and that they were relying on the money she saved up to last them through the month. So she came up with the next best thing: vacation time. Even though she was in the dumps, there was no reason to drag him down as well. Landon's happiness was paramount to her.

"How are your holding up?" he asked.

Lynn tentatively took a deep breath, the pain from getting knocked off of her D-Wheel during her Riding Duel with Raymond still lingered, but it was dulled. It was the reason she hadn't even tried to get out of bed since she climbed in it last night. "Still hurts a little," she replied. "If I just lay here a little longer, it'll go away soon. I'm tougher than I look."

"Well, that's good. I was hoping you'd duel me today."

"Probably later. And it'll have to be without the disks."

"But it's no fun dueling without Solid Vision! I wanna see my hands in action!"

Lynn shook her head, smiling. "I know, brother. But I have to take it easy today. You understand, right? Thanks for the cereal, by the way."

"You're welcome. If you need anything else, I'll be in my room playing my Xbox 1080." Landon turned and left the room, closing the door on his way out.

Alone once again, Lynn sat up and set the bowl of cereal on her lap. She began to munch while her thoughts continued to race.

Most people terminated from their job- their livelihood- would likely be depressed for a short time. Whenever Lynn was feeling upset, she got on her D-Wheel and rode, only stopping to eat, sleep, take care of business, and see to her brother for the next day and a half. While she rode, she couldn't think of anything else but how much she hated that she couldn't perform her calling: to put _everyone_ from that wretched island wasteland called Satellite in their place. If people hated them so much, why couldn't they just send them all back to where they came from in a mass exodus when they left the Facility? Or at least kill some of the more dangerous ones?

It was around 1:00 a.m. last night that she came upon Charlotte on a beach next to Riverside Dr. She was resting a few feet from a dingy rowboat. Who in the world would be out on a small rowboat _that_late at night? Only runaways who were leaving Neo Domino City (and she honestly couldn't understand why anyone would do such a thing) or those arriving from Satellite. The drowned rat appearance that Charlotte sported told her that it couldn't be the first choice. It also didn't help that she got up and ran when she was spotted. However, being in the water for so long made Charlotte unsteady on solid ground, and she stumbled onto the sand. Lynn quickly ran up to her and flipped the girl on her back, bombarding the poor girl with questions while pinning her. Was she from Satellite? How did she get to Neo Domino unspotted? What was her reason for leaving? Charlotte struggled, but Lynn's grip was tighter. What would get her to talk?

Maybe if she threatened to do some serious harm… She looked to the gauntlet she wore on her right arm. The hidden blade would surprise anyone who tried to assault her while she was off-duty, and she often kept it for protection. She reached over with one hand to press the button…

Only for Charlotte to use her hand, now free, and splash a fistful of dirt in Lynn's eyes. The former officer screamed and tried to wipe it away with her hands while Charlotte took the opportunity to shove her assailant off of her and run away again. She stumbled more, but Lynn couldn't pursue if she didn't know which way she was going.

After a couple of minutes, part of Lynn's visibility returned. She regretted not having her visor over her eyes. A more pressing matter occurred to her: Where did that girl run off to? It was then that she realized that she was on the beach. That would mean footprints on the sand! The same thing that led to Charlotte's escape could also help Lynn track her down. Reaching inside her pocket to get her cell phone (since it was the middle of the night and she needed some quick light), Lynn opened it, turned the backlight to its highest setting, and held it about halfway to the ground to search for footprints. She discovered a trail with intermittent large prints indicating someone who fell. It eventually pointed towards an alleyway.

With her vision mostly cleared, Lynn ran back to her D-Wheel, set her visor in place and rode into the alley. She discovered Charlotte holding on to the wall of a building for support and tried to run her over. Charlotte dodged somehow, and ran back out the way she came. Lynn set her bike in reverse and slowly eased out of the alley.

Pulling her bike in front of the blond after a short ride, Lynn thought she had her cornered. If she was in her right mind at the time, she would've just called Sector Security to have her taken away to the Facility. But her hatred for Satellite scum combined with being unable to perform her calling overrode any common sense she had. She just needed… an outlet for her frustrations.

The blade protruded out of the gauntlet. Lynn relished the look of fear on Charlotte's face. Maybe, just this once, she could murder someone and get away with it. Besides, the girl was from Satellite; nobody would give a damn…

It was then that Raymond showed up. Lynn was officially caught in the act, and she got a can full of root beer in the face for it. He rescued Charlotte, she pursued and challenged him to a duel, he proceeded to beat the crap out of her, and now she was laying in bed contemplating all of this.

Finishing her cereal, Lynn set the bowl aside and decided to finally get out of bed. It was time for her to go job hunting, and she needed to access the damage to her D-Wheel in detail. If she ever saw those either of those two again, she'd be ready. She won't go off the deep end next time, but they would pay for humiliating her at the very least.

* * *

"_Hey."_

_Raymond looked back at Charlotte while he was preparing dinner. "What's up? Something on your mind?"_

_The blond sighed from where she was sitting at the dinner table. "Listen… I really appreciate you for letting me stay here. I really do. But… ever since your friends left, something's been bugging me."_

"_What's the problem?" Raymond asked._

"_The fact that you took me in," Charlotte responded. "I-I'm not saying that there's a problem with that, but… I just want to know why. I mean, you said you think I'm attractive and everything, but there's got to be a deeper reason than that. Tell me, why take someone in who is practically a stranger to you? What are your true intentions? You told Lynn, before you dueled her, that people should judge others by what they do and not where they come from. I thought everyone in this place hated Satellite and anyone from it. Why would _you_ think differently?"_

_Raymond gazed straight into her eyes. Was that… doubt he was seeing? She probably didn't think that he was as benevolent as he made himself out to be._

_He took a deep breath before speaking. "My mother… after she died five years ago, I found that she had left me a farewell note underneath her bedside lamp. I don't have the note anymore, but I can still remember it word for word." He turned around and solemnly stirred the macaroni. "It went like this…_

"'Dear Raymond, Upon reading this, then you already know that I've died and gone to heaven. I honestly don't know if I've been the best parent to you, but I've done all that I can since your father died when you were three. You're a teenager now, and I know that you'll be going through some changes and experiences that'll influence your mindset for the rest of your life. There's so much that I want to tell you, but I'm out of time, so I'll tell you what's most important:

"Make your own decisions, and don't ever follow blindly in another's footsteps. Keep an open mind about anything and everything. When you think about something and it appears to be the status quo, ask yourself why that is. And whether or not you come up with an answer, don't ever take anything you see or hear at face value. Go out and experience it for yourself. Who knows, maybe what you thought was the truth wasn't so after all.

"One last thing: When you make up your mind about anything after forming your own opinion, be absolute in your decision. A person is nothing if they don't constantly stand up for what they believe in.

"Raymond, I love you unconditionally. More than I can ever put into words. Thank you for being the joy of my life for the past 14 years. I wish I can be there to witness your growth as a young man… no. I _will_ be there, as your guardian angel. Now you'll have a real one to compliment the angels you already use while dueling. I wish you the best in life, my son.

"With all the love I have in my heart, Mother.'"

_A pregnant silence filled the room after Raymond finished reciting his mother's letter to Charlotte. After a couple of minutes, he turned around to face her. "Ever since her death, I've been opening my mind to all tons of things, even the one thing that sits as the back of everyone's mind: Satellite. Everyone says that it's a haven for criminals, lowlifes and all manner of uncivilized people. While most of it may be true, people have to keep in mind that it's a wasteland. People over there have to struggle to survive and that can mean resorting to desperate measures such as crime. I'm pretty sure most of them don't do it for fun." Charlotte shook her head, confirming his thoughts._

"_I also started wondering how the situation can change. Maybe if those in Satellite got another leg-up… one that didn't deal with garbage… there's be less crime, and less fear in people. Why hasn't it been done already? Neo Domino City is advancing, but at the same time, it seems like we're trying to push Satellite back further and further away from our own development. Personally, I don't think it's fair, especially when you think about life before the Zero Reverse occurred. _

"_People in Satellite were part of our city back then._

"_I suppose that's what I'm really wishing for. Unity between Neo Domino and Satellite. People like me and people like you. How could it hurt anyone? Sure, things will be rough at first, but wouldn't it be great for people to not fear their neighbors?"_

_Charlotte said nothing at first after Raymond finished; she was too busy trying to contemplate all of this. "Hmm… so, you're basically saying that the reason you took me in was to prove to everyone that people from Satellite aren't as bad as they make them out to be? Am I some kind of experiment or something?"_

"_No, no! You're not an experiment, Charlotte," Raymond protested. "You're a person. The reason I took you in actually had nothing to do with Satellite. It was about offering help to someone who desperately needed it. You don't know your way around this city, all you have are the clothes on your back plus my clothes that you're wearing now, and I'd rather you not try to steal food in an unfamiliar place. You're like a… Warrior Lady of the Wasteland in… Armed Dragon LV 10 territory."_

"…_What?"_

_Raymond sighed, turning off his stove to plate the food. "I know that probably didn't make sense. But if it weren't for me, who knows what would've happened to you. Even if you had gotten away from Lynn somehow…_

"_I took you in because I felt you needed the help and support of someone. You're a good person, Charlotte."_

"_What makes you think that I'm a good person? You don't even know me that well."_

"_Neither do you know me well, and yet you tackled me on the couch and kissed me when I said that you could stay."_

_Charlotte couldn't look more flustered. "That… that was just- I was just overjoyed and overreacted because of it!" She glared at him as he turned around, smirking. "That is never going to happen again, Raymond. _Never. _You hear me?"_

_Raymond dropped the smirk, but still had a bit of mirth in his eyes as he nodded. "You know, when I was out riding last night, and I saw you being pursued, my cards… they seemed to speak to me. They told me that something wasn't right. I quickly figured that out when I saw Lynn's blade upon arriving. I did what I thought was right and helped you escape. Now that I think about it… maybe it was my mom directing me on this path." He came over to the table with two platefuls of tilapia with macaroni and cheese and set them down. He poured two glasses of water as he continued. "The guardian angel that she is now… did she somehow speak to the angels of my deck? I don't know, but I am glad you're alright Charlotte. I hope that answers everything you need to know..."_

"_Not everything, but still quite a bit," Charlotte responded. "Thank you for being open with me, Raymond. And… I'm sorry about your loss."_

"_It's okay. I'm okay. We should start eating now; cold fish doesn't sound to good to me."_

_The two housemates began to dig in, chancing unnoticeable glances at each other much like they did at breakfast._

_

* * *

_

"Duel!"

In an underground section of an almost-finished construction site where a Turbo Duel Stadium was to be built, two grown men were about to throw down.

On the left was a man in his mid-20s wearing white pants and a shirt, both covered in splotches of paint. His face had a few streaks of white paint, and so did his short, black hair.

The man on the right appeared to be in his early 30s, with smooth brown hair and sliver-rimmed glasses. He wore a black shirt with the card art of Dark Hole airbrushed on it, along with khaki pants and white shoes.

"Be careful, Michael," the man in glasses said as he drew. "I use a different deck every day. I'm familiar with tons of strategies."

"Probably because you own this place, Spencer," Michael replied. "That doesn't matter, because I'll end this quickly!"

**Spencer: 8,000 LP vs. Michael: 8,000 LP**

The older lad simply chuckled. "We'll see who ends it quickly. I summon The Six Samurai - Yaichi! Appear!"

He played the card, and out of a portal stepped an archer with a ponytail wearing blue and yellow armor of Japanese feudal design. He notched a arrow into his bow and took aim at Michael, ready to shoot on command (1300 ATK).

"So, Six Samurai, huh?" the painter remarked. "Not much of a hassle."

"I seriously recommend that you don't underestimate me or the cards in either of my decks," Spencer replied. "I set a card to my back row and end my turn." A facedown card appeared behind Yaichi.

"My move," Michael declared as he drew. "I'll start off by summoning Armed Dragon LV3!"

A portal opened in front of him, and an orange baby dragon with grey armor in places appeared with a small roar. Its wings seemed way too small for its body, and it had small spikes running down the length of its belly. (1200 ATK).

"He might not be much to look at, but that'll change once I play this!" A Spell Card appeared on his field. "Level Up! Now I can tribute a monster to Special Summon a monster with the same name but of a higher Level from my hand or deck."

Armed Dragon LV3 suddenly glowed white and began to enlarge to…

"Armed Dragon LV5!"

The glow faded. Michael's monster now had red skin and armor of an even greyer color covered its skin in more places. It now sported _plenty_more blades on its shoulders, tail, head, fingertips, and kneecaps. Three lines of spikes ran down its chest, which housed hidden rotary saw blades. (2,400 ATK).

"Armed Dragon LV5, attack Yaichi! Armory Blades!"

The saw blades on Armed Dragon's belly spun and shot towards the archer. Yaichi shot an arrow and deflected one of the blades to the side, then quickly dodged the second one. Unluckily for him, he landed right in the path of the third blade which split him in half with ease before he dissolved into pixels. (S: 8,000 - 6,800)

"Not bad," stated Spencer.

"Of course not," Michael replied. "But it's about to get a lot worse. I set a card facedown…"

"And I activate this!" Spencer declared as his own lifted. "Dust Tornado! Now I can destroy your facedown card." A tan tornado suddenly erupted and obliterated Michael's facedown card, a Magic Jammer. "I also get to Set a Spell or Trap from my hand." A new facedown card appeared next to his fading Dust Tornado card.

Michael grimaced at the loss of his card. "Hmm… I end my turn. Now Armed Dragon LV5's effect activates. Since it destroyed a monster by battle during this turn, I can level it up again!"

Armed Dragon began to glow white once again and grew even larger. The glow faded, and Spencer beheld Armed Dragon LV7, a behemoth of a dragon whose spikes were even more pronounced than its previous form, even to the point where its small wings were fully armored (2800 ATK).

"So, how will you get past this, Spencer?" Michael taunted.

Spencer just grinned at the hulking dragon, who roared loudly at him. "You'll see. Probably. My turn!"

**S: 6,800 LP - M: 8,000 LP**

Spencer drew his card, and a glint appeared in his eye. "First off, I activate my facedown card, Backs to the Wall! This lowers my Life Points down to a miniscule 100."

Michael was too shocked to say anything as his opponent's Life Points plummeted. (Spencer: 6,800 - 100 LP)

"This allows me to Special Summon as many different "Six Samurai" monsters as I possibly can from my Graveyard," Spencer explained.

"But the only there is Yaichi!" Michael protested. "You would put yourself in that situation just to bring _him_ back?"

Spencer nodded as Yaichi reappeared kneeling with his arms crossed, his bow lying on the ground in front of him (800 DEF).

"There's more on the way. I summon Field Commander Rahz!"

Spencer played the card, and out of a portal appeared a middle-aged man wearing well-worn grey and yellow armor, a tattered blue cape, and a red headband. He wielded a bronze longsword that was in need of repair like his armor (1,600 ATK).

"Rahz's effect kicks in when Normal or Special Summoned, allowing me to take any Level 4 or lower Warrior from my deck and place it on top as long as it's not another Rahz." He went through his deck and took a monster out, had it shuffled, and placed the picked card on top.

"Almost done. I place one card facedown…"

A facedown appeared behind Rahz.

"And now for this Spell. I activate Reversal Quiz! First, I send every card in my hand and on my side of the field to the graveyard." As Spencer tossed his hand, everything on Spencer's field simply vanished.

Michael couldn't understand the odd things that his opponent was doing.

"Now, I get to guess what the top card of my deck is. If I call it right, our Life Points are _switched_.

Michael gasped.

"You get it now, right? Not only was Rahz needed so I can be 100% certain of what card would be on top, but Backs to the Wall made the difference in our Life Points significant enough for the whole thing to matter. "

"I… This is… That's why?" Michael proclaimed helplessly.

"Now, I declare… Monster." Spencer picked up his top card and showed it to his opponent: The Six Samurai - Zanji. Michael, who clearly had the field and hand advantage as of now, balked as their Life Point totals switched. (S: 100 - 8,000 LP; M: 8,000 - 100 LP)

"Oh, and you should know this as well," Spencer said. "The card I laid facedown before activating Reversal Quiz was called Black Pendant. When sent from the field to the Graveyard, the opponent takes 500 damage. That's quite a bit more than you have to spare at the moment."

Spencer pointed up, and Michael looked to see the piece of jewelry floating above him. The pendant shattered, causing it's fragments to rain down on him. (M: 100 - 0 LP)

**Final Score: S: 8,000 LP - M: 0 LP**

As the holograms disappeared, Spencer wiped his head on his shirt as if he had just escaped a dangerous situation. "Well, that was fun."

"I've never been in a duel that ended so quickly in my life," Michael lamented. "Now what am I gonna do for the next twenty minutes of my break?"

"You'll find something," Spencer reassured. "Now, I've gotta get back upstairs and see how Louise is doing." He waved to Michael as he started to ascend up a flight of stairs to the front counter of his store.

* * *

Charlotte smiled to herself after thinking about last night. Raymond, she decided, was a pretty good cook. And the way that he had answered her questions… she could tell that Raymond was true to his feelings.

It was now the day after she had met the rest of Team Aegis. Earlier, the two of them took a cab to the nearby mall to go clothes shopping. Once they reached a clothing store, she had modeled three sets of outfits in front of a mirror before buying them along with a pair of shoes. Raymond noticed that she didn't buy any blouses or skirts. It seemed that she preferred pants and the like. Was she a tomboy at heart?

Charlotte was now sporting a black, short sleeved shirt and white pants, along with her new white and blue shoes. While at the mall, Raymond also bought her a white helmet for whenever she would ride with him on his D-Wheel, as she was doing now. They were headed for C4, the warehouse turned card store/dueling arena. Zack and Siren were already inside awaiting their arrival.

As they approached the building, Charlotte looked up in awe. If it was rundown in the past, it certainly didn't look that way now. There weren't any visible signs of maintenance needed as far as she could tell. It resembled… a miniature indoor stadium.

Raymond drove into the parking lot and parked his D-Wheel. After they both got off, they proceeded to the entrance. The electronic doors slid open and they walked in.

Charlotte was amazed when they set foot inside. The place looked even bigger than it did outside. On the left side of the entrance was a large glass case containing individual cards with price tags placed underneath them. Next to that was a shelf for D-Wheelers to place their helmets for safekeeping. Duel Monsters packs, structure decks, card sleeves, and Duel Disks were to her immediate right. Looking forward, she saw a yellow bar that blocked off a short hallway leading to the rest of the stadium. Beyond that, she could see plenty of duels taking place.

Two young boys were in the center. One of them had The Masked Beast towering over his opponent's 3 Mokey Mokeys.

On the far left, a teenage girl had Red Gadget, Yellow Gadget, and Green Gadget with a Continuous Spell Card on her field. Her opponent, a man in his late 20s, activated a trap which caused a loud roar to resonate throughout the building.

Beyond that, she could see the faint image of Siren and her Magical Android burning through an opposing Chaos Sorcerer while Zack clapped from one of the benches on the sidelines.

Raymond walked up to the front desk. "Hey Louise," he greeted the young redhead standing behind it. "Is Spencer around? I need to talk to him for a minute."

Louise nodded and smiled. She grabbed a walkie-talkie and spoke into it. "Spencer, Raymond is here to see you."

"_Oh, good! Tell him I'm on my way up there,"_ came the response.

Louise put the walkie-talkie down and said, "He's coming." Five seconds later, a door behind her opened, and Spencer appeared.

"Raymond! Here at last, I see. Zack and Siren said you'd be here, and you would be bringing your girlfriend around." Noticing Raymond's groan, he looked over to Charlotte who was still watching all of the duels going on. "Is that the lucky girl?"

"How many people are they going to tell that to?" moaned Raymond. "She's not my girlfriend, Spencer. She's just a friend from out of town who's staying with me for a while."

"Oh, really? Then what was with the make-out session yesterday on your couch?" Spencer retorted.

"You mean… they seriously… They told you about that!"

Spencer laughed. "Of course they did. You know how those two are. They'll jump at any chance to embarrass you. But you know they don't mean any harm about it. So, why don't you introduce me to her?"

Raymond walked over to Charlotte and patted her on the shoulder. She jumped a little and spun towards Raymond. "Sorry for interrupting. The store manager wanted to make your acquaintance." He guided her to the counter. "Spencer, this is Charlotte. Charlotte, this is Spencer. He owns the place."

"It's nice to meet you," said Charlotte, holding out her hand.

Spencer shook it with a firm grip. "The pleasure's all mine. You must be eager to duel. You looked like you longed to be out there. Admission is only 250 yen."

Charlotte looked away. "I'd love to duel, but… I don't have any cards. It's not that I don't know how the game is played, but I've never had a deck before."

"Is that so? How would you like to purchase a starter deck? They range from 600-1500 yen," Spencer offered. "Take a look around and see if there's anything you'd like."

"Alright, I'll do that. Thank you."

As Charlotte left to look at the decks, Spencer looked at Louise. "Take a 10 minute break, alright?" Louise nodded and left while he addressed Raymond again. "So, where'd you meet her?

"A couple of nights ago on Riverside Dr., I was on the way home from patrolling C4 when I saw her. She looked like she was in trouble, so I helped her out."

"Trouble, huh? Well, it happens a lot to people who don't know Neo Domino like those of us who live here."

"Yeah, The person had a D-Wheel and pursued, and I got challenged to a duel. Needless to say, I cleaned house."

"Impressive. And she's staying with you until she leaves?"

"Right." _'I wonder when she _will_ leave?'_

"You're a good man, Raymond. I think you'll be destined for great things in life if you continue helping people like her and I."

"You don't need to worry about C4, Spencer. As long as Team Aegis is around, Team Ballistic will never reclaim their territory. It's been six months already. You'd think they learned by now."

"True, true. And they can't try anything sadistic, either. Godwin and Sector Security will punish them if they do. Criminal marks are unsightly things on people."

It was then that Charlotte came back to the counter. "There are so many cards that I don't know which ones to pick."

Spencer nodded his head. "First-time duelists are sometimes overwhelmed by all of the cards available in this game. Hmm… why don't you look at some of the individual cards? If you see something you like, I can help you build a deck around them."

Charlotte decided to browse through the Synchro Monsters first. Cards like them were extremely rare in Satellite. After 30 seconds, she saw a small group of four Synchros being sold together for a cheap price. _'These cards… they're so varied, but they seem to be part of the same family.' _

"Excuse me," she said to Spencer. "These cards… what can you tell me about them?"

Spencer looked to where Charlotte's eyes were fixed. "Ah, so you're interested in _those_guys, huh? Let's see… They're not Tier 1 as of now, but most of the Synchros in that family have some good effects. If played right, you'll rarely find yourself lacking for monsters. That's what I believe, at any rate."

"Plenty of people overlook those cards for more proven archetypes like Six Samurai, Scraps, Gravekeepers and others," Raymond added. "But they have access to some excellent cards that take advantage of their type, and that can help with deck construction. The non-Synchro monsters are fairly inexpensive as well."

"I think I'll give them a shot," Charlotte decided. "I always did want to be different, after all. So… what are the regular monsters like?"

Spencer went over to the shelf and retrieved a box containing tons of cards listed in alphabetical order. "This is the most important card for the deck," he explained, pulling out a card and placing it on the counter.

Charlotte looked hard at the card. "It doesn't look like much… aside from being a tuner, it's pretty much an average card."

"Wait until you see the rest of them," said Raymond. "You won't know which ones to put in your deck. Spencer, how much are these cards?"

"The Synchros cost 150 yen each, and most of the cards in this archetype cost 25-100 yen each," the store owner replied.

"That's good. She's going to need a few support cards, though. For starters, I think we're going to need 2 copies of…"

* * *

Spencer had gotten the cards that Raymond requested, and let them into the arena after Raymond paid admission for him and Charlotte. They spent the next fifteen minutes and putting her first deck together, with some help from Zack and Siren.

"Congratulations, Charlotte. You now have your very own deck!" said Raymond. "I hope it works out well for you."

"Thanks, you guys." Charlotte replied, still ruffling through her cards. "I really think this is actually a good deck."

"Sounds like someone didn't have enough faith in our ability to make decks," Siren chided playfully.

"That's not it at all and you know it," Charlotte replied.

"Geez, can't take a joke. You and Raymond are both too stiff."

"Lies," said Raymond. "I am _not_ stiff."

"Like you're not being stiff right now?" countered Zack. "Anyway, we're going to go talk to Spencer and see if he wants to watch Cherlotte duel. He might have time for a match. Come on, Siren."

"Right behind you!" The two of them walked off to the front of the store. Raymond and Charlotte watched until they were out of sight.

"Yeah, the day's not complete until we test out that deck of yours," said Raymond.

Charlotte nodded in agreement. She looked out all over the arena; plenty of people were still dueling. "Hmm…I need to find an opponent…"

"Well, you could always duel me.," offered Raymond. "It could be fun!"

"Don't bother," said a voice behind them. "I'll take her on."

The two of them turned to face the intruding voice. Standing eight feet in front of them was none other than Lynn herself, dressed in an orange shirt and blue jeans with a scowl on her face.

"So, the Satellite scum is a duelist," she said. "How amusing. Now, it's time for a little payback!"

* * *

_Next chapter:_

**Lynn: I honestly never thought I'd run into you two again. And here of all places.**

**Raymond: I honestly refuse to believe this is some kind of coincidence.**

**Lynn: Who knows, maybe it is. Now is your little scum girlfriend going to accept my challenge or not?**

**Charlotte: The only scum here is you. I'll show you that I'm more than the trash you make me out to be!**

**"Variety Comes Out" is coming up next on _"The Pursuit of Balance!"_**


	5. Variety Comes Out

**Author's Note: Whoa... what is wrong with me and updating? I feel like I take so long, people have to reread the previous chapters in order to find out exactly what's going on! I admit it, I'm kinda lazy, but the ideas never cease to stop popping in my head.**

**I apologize for my procrastination, dear readers.**

**And while I want to say this won't happen again, I can't say that. As of now, my internet access is really limited, so who knows when I'll be able to update. I really do hope I can see this through. Also, don't let this discourage you from leaving a review. What little I have gotten had inspired me to to better on my characters and the story in general.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds, would I _really_ be writing fan fiction about it?**

* * *

Chapter 5: Variety Comes Out

Charlotte, with Raymond right beside her, glowered at Lynn. The ex-officer glared back at them.

Raymond was the one who broke the silence. "How did you find us?"

"To be honest, I wasn't focused on finding you," Lynn responded. "I was only here to buy a few cards and duel somebody. When I walked through the gate, I noticed her hair and put two and two together.

"You banged me up pretty good in that duel we had, Raymond." She lowered her voice a little so only he and Charlotte could hear. "I probably deserve it for trying to kill you…"

"You deserve more than that," Charlotte snapped. "You want to kill someone just because they don't believe what you do? Because you don't like where they come from? That's utter bull!"

"…You're right about that. And I'm not going to do anything like that this time. The Lynn you saw that night was frustrated and wanted someone to take it out on," Lynn explained. "I lost my job earlier that day and… never mind. The Lynn you see now has a cooler head. But she's still angry, and would rather see you locked up in the facility then free committing all the crimes you want."

"And what makes you think I'm going to commit any crimes?" Charlotte retorted.

"Isn't that what most people do in Satellite when they're not picking through trash? Sector Security has it's hands full trying to keep that place in check. I refuse to stand by and watch while a criminal slips through their fingers. Not when I can do something about it."

"And just what will you… excuse me, _could _you arrest me for? Throwing sand in your face in self-defense?"

Lynn growled as she relived that moment for a second, her eyes now stinging a little. "The simple fact that you infiltrated this city would be enough. Your records would show that you've never lived here. Then you'd have to tell them some blatant lie about your situation which you know they'll see through, and before you know what hit you, you'll be in the Facility." Lynn smiled as she finished, raising her duel disk. "And part one of that situation will begin very soon… unless you can beat me in a duel. If you do so, I… will… try not to have you arrested." Lynn gritted out the last few words as if it was tearing her apart to say them.

"And if I can't beat you, I get sent off to jail… willingly or not, right?" Charlotte reasoned.

"Ditto."

"Charlotte! You don't have to accept any challenge from her," Raymond protested. "Not that I don't have confidence you'll win, but…"

"Oh, but she has every reason to. Because if she doesn't, I'll just belt out to everyone in this place that there's a Satellite invader trying to duel here," Lynn pointed out. "I wonder how many would take kindly to that…"

Raymond scowled. Most everyone thought the complete opposite of him when it came to Satellite and it's residents. Hell, even Siren and Zack might take Lynn's side, and he couldn't have that.

"I just want to know one thing," he asked Lynn. "Why are you giving Charlotte a chance? You don't strike me as the kind of person who offers any outs."

"Because it's laughable that she'd be trying to duel," Lynn responded. "I don't know if you even know this, but it's illegal for Satellite scum to duel."

"What kind of rule is that?" Raymond countered. "It's like people are suggesting that _dueling _caused the Zero Reverse."

"Who knows? And right now, who cares? My full attention is on putting her where she belongs. I want to see her struggle for any futile hope that she can win. You may have beaten me, Raymond, but I seriously doubt she can."

Charlotte's eyes hardened. "You make it seem like everyone in Satellite is inferior to those in Neo Domino."

"They _are_," Lynn replied, egging her on as she grinned. "And anyone in this city except your boyfriend would agree with me in a heartbeat."

Charlotte ignored the bit about Raymond being her boyfriend. "I don't believe that for one second. People in Satellite can be as good as those in Neo Domino. Better, even. You don't survive 14 years in a wasteland without being tough. I accept your challenge. Raymond, your duel disk."

Raymond took off the duel disk he was wearing and gave it to Charlotte, looking into her visible eye. It held a look of grim determination. He nodded to her, silently wishing her luck.

'_I can't believe my first duel had to be against this bitch,'_ Charlotte thought as she walked over to one side of a dueling field and activated the duel disk. '_Some divine power really hates me for bringing her here. I have to win, or the rest of my life is going to be extremely rough from here on out.'_

Lynn smirked from where she was standing. '_Raymond may have taken advantage of my recklessness during the duel I had with him, but now my dueling sense is sharper. Plus, I'll be dealing with Charlotte, who's probably inexperienced. I'm going to grind her spirit to dust with a quick victory!'_

The ex-cop and the runaway both drew five cards.

"Duel!" The two combatants shouted.

**Charlotte: 8,000 LP vs. Lynn: 8,000 LP**

"My tu-" Both Lynn and Charlotte started to draw, but stopped when they realized they were both trying to go first. They stared each other down, neither one willing to give the other the first move. After ten seconds, Raymond produced a coin out of his pocket.

"Call it," he said as he tossed it in the air.

Lynn was quicker. "Heads!"

Raymond let the coin fall to the floor, where it started spinning. Eventually, it stopped on tails.

As Lynn snapped her fingers in defeat, Raymond turned to Charlotte. "I assume you're going-"

Charlotte drew her sixth card.

"-first? Never mind," he finished with a smile.

The blonde looked at the card she drew and smiled. "Lynn! How would you like to see my ace monster?"

"What? Don't tell me that you're already able to summon it on the first turn!" Lynn replied.

"Of course," Charlotte replied. "So you can meet the instrument of your destruction right… now!"

As Charlotte played the card, Lynn braced herself for the worst, which consisted of…

A brown and tan humanoid robot with an oversized head. It seemed worn, and there were cables dangling from its body in a few places. Its most notable features were the antenna on its head, two yellow bulbs in place of ears, and its adorable face (1,400 ATK).

Lynn looked at Charlotte in disbelief. "Your ace monster is… Genex Controller? You have _got_ to be kidding me. Or is this the best card you managed to find in that dumpster you call home?"

"For your information, I bought these cards today," Charlotte corrected her. "Well, Raymond bought them for me… but I picked them out!"

"Humph. The thing looks like it came from Satellite itself." Lynn laughed a little. "Isn't that ironic? One piece of trash using another piece of trash to fight for her."

Charlotte seethed in response. "Who the hell do you think you are!"

"An observer of the truth," was the cool response.

'_We'll see who's trash once I win!' _Charlotte thought angrily."I set one card facedown and end my turn!"

A facedown appeared behind Genex Controller before Lynn drew. She gazed hard at the seemingly harmless robot. '_You only see that guy in Machine decks or in a few Water decks. My guess is she's running the former. As much as I'd like to think she's running some random mix of horrible Machines, that may not be the case. I'll have to be careful.'_

Lynn looked at the cards in her hand before picking one from her hand. '_And in order to be careful, I have to force my opponent to be careful. The best defense is a good offense.' _"I summon Marauding Captain to the field! Heed the call!"

From a portal, the middle-aged captain wielding two swords appeared (1,200 ATK).

"His effect allows me to Special Summon a Monster from my hand when he himself is Normal Summoned. So now I'm bringing out Command Knight!"

Another portal appeared next to Marauding Captain, and out stepped a woman with blond hair and dressed in red decorative armor. She wore a beret with small wings on the sides, and held a long sword and a shield (1,200 ATK).

"As long as there's another monster on my field, Command Knight cannot be attacked, and Marauding Captain prevents you from attacking any Warriors but himself anyway.

"Warriors on my field also get a 400 ATK boost, thanks to Command Knight."

Both warriors briefly took on a red aura (1,200 - 1,600 ATK x2).

"Marauding Captain, destroy that piece of junk! _**Twin Sword Assault!"**_

With a battle cry, Marauding Captain charged towards Genex Controller with his swords raised. He slashed through the exposed circuitry of the robot, which sparked and shattered into pixels shortly afterwards. (C: 8,000 - 7,800 LP)

"Command Knight, go and attack her directly! _**Blaze Blade!"**_

The warrior woman's sword glowed red as she ran toward Charlotte, who took the attack with her Duel Disk. The blonde felt intense heat radiating from the sword upon contact. (C: 7,800 - 6,200 LP)

Lynn smiled as Command Knight returned. "Not a bad start. I'll end with a facedown." A facedown card appeared behind both of the Warriors.

**Charlotte: 6,200 LP - Lynn: 8,000 LP**

'_I can't believe she got me first!' _lamented Charlotte as she drew. '_Time to retaliate.'_

Her facedown card lifted. "Trap card, Birthright! I can Special Summon a Normal Monster from my Graveyard in Attack Position!"

In a flash, Genex Controller appeared once again, waving it's little arms threateningly (1,400 ATK).

"Next, I'm summoning Genex Undine! Now!"

A portal appeared on the ground, and a blue robot with the framework of a female appeared. It stood on two fat, stubby legs and had a head shaped like a teardrop. Blue and yellow cords connected its transparent lower chest to its arms, which all held water. The two small hoses coming out of its hands were apparently there to spray it at opponents (1,200 ATK).

"When Normal Summoned, Genex Undine lets me send a Water monster from my deck to the Graveyard so I can add a Genex Controller from my deck to my hand." Charlotte went through her deck, placed a second copy of Genex Undine in the Graveyard, and placed in her hand another copy of the adorable robot Tuner.

"And now for a Synchro Summon! My Level 3 Genex Controller is going to tune to my Level 3 Genex Undine!"

Genex Controller looked to Genex Undine and beeped three times. The watery robot seemed to get the message as Controller turned into three stars, surrounding Undine as they turned into rings.

"_Hope for the world takes the form of water, washing away the grime! A new beginning is flooded with new opportunities!_

"_Synchro Summon! Wash 'em up, Hydro Genex!"_

A beam of light rained down and metamorphosed into a waterfall. Out of it stepped a blue female robot that appeared to be an upgraded version of Genex Undine. Its body was slimmer and seemed to be in even better maintenance. Most of its joints were water-filled orbs with tubes connecting to each other and to two large purple containers. In its hands was a spear with a watery blade at the end (2,300 ATK).

Charlotte smiled as Raymond clapped, but then she heard footsteps hurtling towards her direction. She looked to see Zack and Siren as they made their way towards Raymond.

"Zack-kun, we missed it!" Siren cried. "We should've been there for Charlotte's first Synchro Summon!"

"It's not my fault we got held up by so many people wanting to see Spencer," replied Zack. "And he couldn't even come because of all the commotion."

Raymond looked at his friends. "Relax, guys. Just hope that Charlotte makes it through."

Zack looked at him. "You're looking pretty serious, man."

"Yeah, it's her opponent. They hate each other's guts."

"What for?" Siren asked.

"I don't know, really," Raymond lied. "Just some history between them, I guess."

"Well, I hope Charlotte kicks her butt to kingdom come!" Siren cheered. "Go, Charlotte! You can do it!"

Lynn gritted her teeth at Siren's outburst. _'_More_ supporters? Just how many people are on her side?'_

"Now for a Spell Card," said Charlotte. "Machine Assembly Line!"

Next to her, an assembly line appeared. It was currently on standby.

"As long as this is on the field, all Machines gain 200 ATK."

Hydro Genex glowed briefly as the assembly line began to run (2,300 - 2,500 ATK).

"Hydro Genex, wipe out Marauding Captain! _**Torrential Thrust!"**_

The robot spun its spear while running towards the captain. Marauding Captain tried to parry using his two swords, but to no avail. Command Knight gasped as Hydro Genex ran its blade through the captain, who shattered into pixels afterwards. (L: 8,000 - 7,100 LP)

"Since Hydro Genex destroyed a monster by battle, I gain Life Points equal to the destroyed monster's ATK." Charlotte raised her head and closed her eyes as a gentle, soothing mist surrounded her. (C: 6,200 - 7,800 LP)

"Pad your Life Points all you want," replied Lynn as the mist around Charlotte dissipated, "You won't win this duel."

Charlotte placed a card facedown in her back row. "Back up that last statement, then. Your move."

**Charlotte: 7,800 LP - Lynn: 7,100 LP**

"Draw!" Lynn snatched the top card from her deck. "I'm placing one monster facedown and setting two cards in my back row. Then I move Command Knight to Defense Position."

Command Knight knelt and raised her shield (1,900 DEF).

"Now, make your move."

Charlotte drew her card. "I summon Genex Searcher! Now!"

If Lynn said that Genex Controller looked like trash, then it was definitely better formed than the Machine that suddenly appeared. Cords and wires drooped all over its form: a baby mushroom head with red buttons for eyes (one was loose and hanging), a studded shoulder guard on top of a rusting body that had a wire taped to it, and a cylindrical lower body. It had thin wires for legs, and its arms (the right was thin and the left was bulky and blue) had pincers for hands (1,600 - 1,800 ATK).

"Hydro Genex, attack the facedown monster!"

The watery robot lunged towards the reversed monster, which was revealed to be a woman with dirty blond hair reaching past her shoulders. Wearing a jacket, fingerless gloves, shorts, and boots that were made from black leather, she held a sword which seemed to be made entirely out of light (1,600 DEF).

As Hydro Genex stabbed through her, Lynn cried, "D. D. Warrior Lady! Drag it into the Different Dimension!"

D. D. Warrior Lady used the last of her strength and cut a portal open. She held on to the spear embedded in her chest as she and Hydro Genex were quickly sucked inside of it.

"No!" yelled Charlotte as the portal closed. "What did you do, you-"

"I simply banished both of them," explained Lynn. "I can do that after damage calculation when D. D. Warrior Lady battles."

"Well, you still have Genex Searcher to deal with!" replied Charlotte. "…Next turn." She almost forgot that her junky robot had less ATK points than the DEF points of Lynn's knight.

Lynn shook her head. "Before your turn ends, I activate one of my Traps!" One of Lynn's facedown cards lifted. "Reinforce Truth! Now I can Special Summon a Warrior from my deck, but it's Level can't be higher than 2. I can't conduct my Battle Phase for the turn, but since it isn't even my turn yet…" Lynn looked through her deck and plucked out a monster. "I Special Summon Torapart!"

Another Monster appeared where D. D. Warrior Lady once was. It looked like a toy clown wearing a black cloak with a flower in its hat; in place of legs, its torso was attached to a metal disk which had a mirror image of it on the underside (600 - 1,000 ATK).

"That guy looks like a Tuner," Zack mentioned.

Lynn drew to start her turn. "That's because it _is _one. By the way, Charlotte… I noticed you failed to gain Life Points from your last attack."

"The monsters that Hydro Genex destroys have to go to the Graveyard," explained Charlotte, still sulking about the loss of her Synchro monster.

Lynn nodded to herself slightly before playing the card she just drew. "I summon Sasuke Samurai #2! Heed the call!"

In a flash of light, a small warrior dressed in Japanese feudal armor appeared. Its perfectly round head had slanted eyes and was completely bald save for a topknot that branched out into three at the end. It brandished a katana that was just as big as itself (200 - 600 ATK).

"I activate the Equip Spell, Synchro Boost! This gives Torapart 500 extra ATK, and its Level increases by 1."

A rising energy enveloped the symmetrical Tuner (1,000 - 1,500 ATK, Level: 2 - 3).

Raymond look at Lynn's three monsters. _'Command Knight is Level 4, Torapart is Level 3 thanks to Synchro Boost, and from the way Lynn is smiling right now, Sasuke Samurai #2 must be Level 1. That means she's going for Colossal Fighter!'_

"I'm going to activate the effect of Sasuke Samurai #2!" declared Lynn. "By paying 800 Life Points, neither one of us can activate Spells, Traps, or their effects for the rest of the turn." (L: 7,100 - 6,300 LP)

Sasuke Samurai #2 jumped and stabbed its sword into the ground. The facedowns of the two combatants as well as Charlotte's assembly line were instantly covered by a silvery film.

"Now, I'm tuning my Level 3 Torapart to my Level 4 Command Knight and my Level 1 Sasuke Samurai #2!"

Torapart split into two equal parts, put its hands together, and then turned into three stars which then became rings. Command Knight grabbed the little samurai that was busy trying to get its sword out of the ground and jumped through the rings, where they turned into 5 stars.

"_Embodiment of fallen soldiers who collaborate for revenge! Grudges of the ill-fated shall manifest into a titan of might!_

"_Synchro Summon! The fist of vengeance, Colossal Fighter!"_

The giant white Warrior appeared in midair and landed with a thud (2,800 ATK).

"As you know, Colossal Fighter gains 100 ATK for every Warrior in both Graveyards," reminded Lynn.

The specters of Marauding Captain, Command Knight, Sasuke Samurai #2, and Torapart infused themselves into the futuristic giant's body (2,800 - 3,200 ATK).

"Colossal Fighter, destroy Genex Searcher! _**Mega Knuckle!"**_

Colossal Fighter reared its fist back in a haymaker and brought it down full force upon the Genex monster, shattering it into pieces which pelted Charlotte. (C: 7,800 - 6,400 LP)

The Machine Assembly Line came to life and picked up the debris of Genex Searcher with a huge magnet. It then dropped the scraps into an open bin. Two bulbs on the front of the machine lit up.

"What was that just now?" questioned Lynn.

"When a Machine is destroyed," Charlotte explained, "my Machine Assembly Line gains two Junk Counters. And I can use them for something later.

"Also, since you destroyed Genex Searcher by battle, I can now Special Summon a Genex monster from my deck with 1,500 ATK or less. I'm summoning Genex Doctor!"

A new Genex appeared on the field, this one with thin, wiry arms and goggles for eyes. In one of its arms was a pair of pliers (1,500 ATK).

"I'd do more damage if I could. But I'll end my turn," said Lynn.

**Charlotte: 6,400 LP - Lynn: 6,300 LP**

The silvery film covering the Spells and Traps vanished as Charlotte drew her card. _'There's not a monster strong enough in my deck to take down Colossal Fighter on its own by battle. But I can do it with my Doctor here_.' "I summon my second Genex Controller!"

Another copy of Genex Controller appeared (1,400 - 1,600 ATK).

"Now I'm going to use Genex Doctor's effect! I can Tribute a Genex Controller to destroy one card on the field.

Genex Controller turned into a ball of energy that was placed in Genex Doctor's hands.

"Say goodbye to your Colossal Fighter!" Charlotte remarked.

"Not yet! I activate my Trap!" Lynn countered. "Remote Revenge! Since you're trying to destroy one of my monsters with a targeting effect, I can redirect that effect to one of your own."

Genex Doctor threw the ball of energy at Colossal Fighter, but an energy shield formed around the titan. The ball reflected off of it and slammed straight into Genex Doctor, causing it to explode.

'_Oh crap, I'm wide open!'_ thought Charlotte. _'And I didn't gain any Junk Counters to Machine Assembly Line… Why did Genex Doctor have to be a Spellcaster instead of a Machine?'_

"I… end my turn…" she said.

The smile on Lynn's face couldn't get any wider as she drew her next card. "I activate Reinforcement of the Army." Lynn took her deck out of its slot. "I can search my deck for a Warrior that's Level 4 or lower and put it in my hand. And what do you know, the one I'm looking for is at the very bottom." She quickly put it in her hand, and reinserted the deck into her disk which shuffled it for her.

"Now I'll summon him. Mataza the Zapper, heed the call!"

A bronze-skinned warrior wearing blue and green feudal armor appeared next to Colossal Fighter. His shoulder length black hair was tied in a ponytail, and he wielded a katana (1300 ATK).

"I hope you're not trying to spring any Traps," said Lynn. "Since I summoned Colossal Fighter with Torapart as the Tuner, you can't activate them when it attacks.

"Colossal Fighter, direct attack! _**Terra Render!"**_

The giant clasped both of its hands together and slammed them into the ground. A shockwave of debris flew towards Charlotte, knocking her off her feet. (C: 6,400 - 3,200 LP)

"There's more," Lynn declared as Charlotte got back up. "Mataza hasn't attacked yet. And he can do so twice.

**"_Blue Streak!"_**

Mataza unsheathed his sword and unleashed two energy blades from it that crackled with lightning. The blonde cried out as they made contact. (C: 3,200 - 600 LP)

"Charlotte!" cried Raymond. "You can still win this! Don't give up yet!"

"She might as well," stated Lynn. "You really think she can fight her way out of this hole I put her in? This was over before we even started."

"…Is that right?" said Charlotte, catching her breath. "Do you end your turn?"

"Defiant to the end, I see… You are in seriously dire straits right now. If I were you, I'd be putting all my hopes on the next card you draw. Because without it…" Lynn trailed off. "You'll find out soon enough. Now, show me your last attempt at resistance."

"I take it that means you end. Good. Now I can activate this!"

Charlotte's facedown lifted, and Lynn gasped at what it was.

"Shock Draw!" the ex-officer cried.

"Yes," confirmed Charlotte. "I now get to draw once for every thousand points of damage you inflicted to my Life Points this turn. Rounded down, that's 5,000.

"So I can put my hopes on _five_ new cards!"

"_Charlotte may have only 600 Life Points," _thought Raymond as the Satellite refilled her hand, _"but now she has a potential advantage over Lynn. Not to mention the card she's going to draw to start her turn. Still, she needs to be careful. One slip-up and it's the slammer."_

**Charlotte: 600 LP - Lynn: 6,300 LP**

"My turn!" Charlotte drew, took a moment, and then played the card she just drew. "Genex Neutron! Now!"

In front of Charlotte appeared a shiny new Genex. This one was black with red plating on its lower legs and arms as well as its upper chest. Orange energy streaked between the metal on its face and in other places on its body (1,800 - 2,000 ATK).

"I also activate the Spell Card, Riryoku!" she continued. "For the turn, this halves the ATK of one of your monsters and then adds that amount to one of mine."

Orbs of energy began to seep from Colossal Fighter (3,200 - 1,600 ATK) and flew to Genex Neutron, which absorbed them into its body (2,000 - 3,600 ATK).

"Genex Neutron, attack Mataza! _**Neutral Pulse!"**_

The black and red robot fired rings of energy from its face, and Mataza succumbed to the attack. (L: 6,300 - 4,000 LP)

"Halfway there!" cheered Siren even as Colossal Fighter's attack rose (1,600 - 1,700 ATK).

Charlotte placed three cards facedown behind Genex Neutron. "I end my turn now. I'll also use Genex Neutron's effect, allowing me to add a Machine-type Tuner from my deck to my hand at the end of the turn it's Normal Summoned." She went through her deck and quickly pulled out the card she was looking for.

Energy orbs flowed out of Genex Neutron as its ATK returned to normal (3,600 - 2,000 ATK) and Colossal Fighter regained its strength (1,700 - 3,300 ATK).

**Charlotte: 600 LP - Lynn: 4,000 LP**

Lynn drew her card. _'I gotta be careful here. Charging head-on into a monster with 3 facedown cards behind it is not a smart move for most duelists._

'_Even so, Colossal Fighter still has immunity to Traps when it attacks. I just have to push forward and she won't be able to spring them on me._

'_It doesn't matter whether or not I'm an officer or not. I still have a duty to the people of Neo Domino. And I will fulfill it!'_

Lynn's eyes hardened. "Colossal Fighter, attack Genex Neutron and end this duel!"

"I activate my facedown card!" cried Charlotte.

"It's not a Trap, is it? Remember, you can't activate Traps when Colossal Fighter attacks since Torapart was the Tuner."

"I know that," said Charlotte as the card on her far left lifted. "Good thing Limiter Removal is a Quick-Play Spell! Now the ATK of all my Machines is doubled for the turn!"

As Colossal Fighter charged towards it, Genex Neutron began to glow red hot all over (2,000 - 4,000 ATK). The robot rushed at the giant and threw a punch of its own. An explosion occurred as Neutron's attack landed in the middle of the giant Warrior's chest, blowing it to shards. (L: 4,000 - 3,300 LP)

'_Finally!' _Charlotte inwardly cheered. _'Glad he's gone!'_

"Since you destroyed Colossal Fighter by battle," started Lynn, "I get to Special Summon any Warrior from my Graveyard.

"And I'll be damned if I make the same mistake as last time! Colossal Fighter, rise again!"

The giant Warrior rematerialized with a scowl on his face (2,800 - 3,300 ATK).

'_Damn! I forgot about that effect!' _thought Charlotte. _'I can't keep destroying that thing by battle, then.'_

"I'll place one Monster facedown and end my turn," she said. "And now Genex Neutron is destroyed thanks to your Limiter Removal."

"Fine by me," Charlotte replied as Genex Neutron overheated and exploded into pieces. The assembly line's magnet picked up the pieces and dropped them in the bin, and two more bulbs lit up, bringing the total to four counters.

**Charlotte: 600 LP - Lynn: 3,300 LP**

Charlotte drew and looked at her hand of six cards. "You can keep reviving your monster when it's destroyed by battle. So I'll just use an effect instead!

"I activate the Spell Card, Fissure! It destroys an opponent's face-up monster with the lowest ATK on the field. Too bad for your Fighter since it's your only face-up monster!"

A holographic fissure appeared in the ground underneath Colossal Fighter, who fell in before it closed.

'_Good. Colossal Fighter is finally gone!'_ thought Siren. _'I hope that facedown monster isn't a threat; Charlotte can probably finish up this turn or the next.'_

"Now that your ace is out of the picture, I use the effect of Machine Assembly Line," said Charlotte. "By sending it to the Graveyard, I can Special Summon a Machine from there whose level is equal to or less than the number of counters on it. So I summon one of my Genex Controllers!"

The machine began to put pieces of junk together inside the bin. It then exploded and out of the debris appeared a Genex Controller (1,400 ATK).

"Now since he's on the field, this next monster doesn't need a tribute to be summoned. Genex Furnace, Now!"

Another Genex rose in front of Charlotte: a bronze, bipedal furnace with a smokestack and arms. The lid on its front opened, and fire flickered out (2,000 ATK).

"I now activate the Spell Card, Double Summon! Now I can make another Normal Summon this turn. So here's Genex Worker!"

Next to Genex Furnace appeared a black and yellow Genex that vaguely resembled a hovercraft. Its upper and lower body each had 4 turbines, and there was a red visor over its face (1,200 ATK).

"And now I'll use its effect, tributing it to Special Summon a Genex from my hand! Like Genex Solar!"

As Genex Worker disappeared, out came another Genex. This one could possibly be considered an upgraded version of Genex Neutron, taller with yellow plating where the black would be. Attached to its head and both of its lower arms were wings like those seen on airplanes, colored in yellow and blue. (2,500 ATK).

"And now, I'm tuning my Level 3 Genex Controller to my Level 5 Genex Furnace!"

Genex Controller beeped 3 times, just like before. The 3 stars it morphed into became rings that surrounded Genex Furnace, which turned into 5 stars.

"_Hope for the world takes the form of fire, burning away the refuse! A new beginning blazes past the obstacles of adversity!_

"_Synchro Summon! Burn 'em up, Thermal Genex!"_

The resulting pillar of light turned into a giant white-hot bonfire. It died down to reveal a blue Genex with the same basic body structure as Genex Furnace, only with bulkier arms ending in multiple torches and a more humanlike head with green, glowing eyes (2,400 ATK).

Before anyone could say anything, Genex Solar shot a beam from its chest at Lynn. (L: 3,300 - 2,800 LP) "Ow! What was that for?" she cried.

"Oh, that's right," said Charlotte. "That was the 500 damage you take from Genex Solar whenever Genex monsters are sent to the Graveyard.

"Also, Thermal Genex gains 200 ATK for every Fire monster in my Graveyard. Granted, there's only one…"

The image of Genex Furnace appeared, turned into a ball of fire, and flew into its upgraded version (2,400- 2,600 ATK).

"Now let's do this! Thermal Genex, attack the facedown Monster! _**Radiation Stream!"**_

Thermal Genex pointed its arms at the facedown monster, which revealed itself to be a strange Warrior. It was white and purple, had no legs, and its arms and lower body was connected to its torso by red cords. The backs of its hands had green orbs on them (1,900 DEF).

The white-hot Machine torched the Warrior with the flames sprouting from its arms, causing it to explode into pixels.

"You may have destroyed my Ghost Gardna," said Lynn, "But it won't be nearly enough for victory. When destroyed, it lowers the ATK of an opponent's monster by 1,000 for the turn. I choose Genex Solar!"

A sickly green aura surrounded the yellow and blue robot (2,500 - 1,500 ATK).

"That doesn't matter at all," said Charlotte. "When Genex Furnace destroys a monster in battle, you take 200 damage for every Genex in my Graveyard.

"There's my two Genex Controllers, two Genex Undines, Genex Searcher, Genex Doctor, Genex Neutron, Genex Worker and Genex Furnace. So take 1,800 damage!"

Thermal Genex's core blasted Lynn with the same fire its arms used to scorch her last monster. (L: 2,800 - 1,000)

"And that means Genex Solar can finish this!" Charlotte pointed to Lynn. "Take her down! _**Corona Impact!"**_

Genex Solar flew towards Lynn, the green aura surrounding it turning white with light before throwing a punch to her gut. Lynn gasped for air and sunk to her knees. (L: 1,200 - 0 LP)

**Final Score: Charlotte: 600 LP - Lynn: 0 LP**

"Yes!" cried Charlotte. "I win!" She ran over to Team Aegis and high-fived each of them as Lynn was still recovering from both the last attack and the fact that Charlotte had indeed won.

Picking herself up, she walked over to Charlotte as the celebrations died down. "…Congratulations. I hate to let you go, but so be it for now. Just remember, I'm gonna keep watching you." She then turned to Raymond. "And you, for that matter." She then walked away, not giving them a chance to respond.

'_How did she come all the way back from… Am I really this bad?' _she thought in her mind. _'I don't deserve to be a duelist if I'm losing to Satellite scum.'_

When she was out of sight, Raymond was the first to speak. "Creepy."

"I'll say," said Zack. "What was that all about?"

"Bad blood between us," replied Charlotte. "I don't wanna talk about it."

"Don't even think about it. How about we celebrate with some ice cream?" Siren suggested. "Raymond's paying."

The aforementioned gawked. "The hell I am, you triple-scoop-on-a-waffle-cone guzzler! Charlotte, this one has a brain freeze every 15 seconds for how fast she eats her ice cream."

"I do not!"

"You do too," Raymond and Zack chorused.

"Oh sure, Zack. Leaders don't take sides!"

"Hey, hey. I'm not taking sides," replied Zack, "but I am agreeing with facts."

Charlotte watched as the Aegis duelists continued arguing, unaware that a pair of eyes was on them in the distance. Two teenage boys, one short and stocky with a blue cap worn backwards and the other tall and lanky absentmindedly playing with a Yo-yo.

"Man, Yoshiyuki," started the short guy, "I can't wait for tomorrow. They've been holding onto our territory for far too long."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," agreed Yoshiyuki, who was now doing a Rock The Baby trick. "I hope you got the cards you need, Fargo. Now…"

The cell phone in Yoshiyuki's pocket ringed. Putting away his yo-yo, he quickly fished it out and flipped it open. "Hello?… Oh, hey. What's up…? …Oh, yeah? For what purpose? …Just to hang out? That's good. Fargo's with me, too. We'll be there in fifteen. …Alright, later."

After putting the phone in his pocket, he turned to his teammate. "Our leader wants us to meet him at Yuri's Shaved Ice. Let's go."

Fargo nodded, and the two members of Team Ballistic walked out the doors of C4.

* * *

_Next chapter:_

**Yoshiyuki: Fargo and I meet with our leader and discuss our strategy against Team Aegis over shaved ice. There's this beautiful girl eavesdropping, and she claims she can't stand their leader. Hearing this gives our leader an idea, but when he tells her about it, she wants some satisfaction before she's in. This leads to a duel between Fargo and I, with nothing at stake but her initial impression of us.**

**Check out "Conscription" next time on "The Pursuit of Balance."**


	6. Conscription

**Author's Note: Chapter 6 is finally up! It seems I have a bit more time to write nowadays. I hope that's still the case when school starts in a few weeks.**

**Disclaimer: As stated in the previous five chapters, I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds. Only my OCs, my storyline, and any custom cards that I happen to make for this fiction.**

* * *

Chapter 6: Conscription

"_The art of war, then, is governed by five constant factors, to be taken into account in one's deliberations, when seeking to determine the conditions obtaining in the field._

"_These are: (1) The Moral Law; (2) Heaven; (3) Earth; (4) The Commander; (5) Method and Discipline."_

With lemon flavored shaved ice on a table in front of him, a young man with well-groomed brown hair continued to analyze quotes from the book he was holding, "The Art of War." He wore a black jacket with a plain blue shirt and blue pants as well. His black shoes were currently propped on top of a patio table next to his frozen treat.

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to take your feet off the table."

Jaxon Chism, more commonly known as J.C., promptly set his feet on the floor. "Sorry about that, miss," he told the waitress. After she walked off, he began to flip through some more pages until he found a chapter he liked.

"The Art of War", considered the oldest treatise in military tactics, can be applied to many other endeavors: business, sports, etc. J. C. decided that he'd use it in order to lead his team to victory after the last three months of crushing defeats against his rivals. Things have gotten better, but they still haven't reclaimed the nine city blocks that the rest of their territory surrounds.

He was so engrossed in his reading that he was startled by his two teammates standing behind him. "Hey, guys. Finally here, I see."

"Yep," agreed Fargo. "Been a while since we've been here, you know. We used to hang out here all the time before we started losing big time to Aegis."

"I know, Fargo. You two should sit down and order something for old times' sake."

After his two teammates pulled out chairs and sat down, J. C. motioned the waitress over. Fargo ordered a small standard cherry, and Yoshiyuki decided on the new mint flavor, medium size. Upon receiving their frozen treats, the three of them continued to eat in silence.

Yoshiyuki was the first to speak after the three of them finished. "Are you ready for tomorrow?"

"I'm always ready for another round with Raymond," said J.C. "My deck and my play style are improving every week. What about you guys?"

"Yoshiyuki and I just came from C4," said Fargo. "I finally got enough for those two monsters in my Extra Deck."

Yoshiyuki sighed. "One of these days, the three of us are going to sweep Team Aegis. Once we do so, the hole in our territory will be filled once again, and things will be the way they were six months ago." He looked to J. C.'s book. "Any new ideas from that?"

The guy in question shook his head. "Not this week. But regardless of the tactics we use, we will defeat Team Aegis. You're right, Yoshiyuki. I have the feeling we will sweep them, and soon. Once we get those nine blocks back, we can focus on expanding again. Raymond, Siren, and Zack will fall before Team Ballistic!"

J.C. would've continued talking if it hadn't been for someone tapping his shoulder. He turned his head to look into the face of none other than Juno.

"Did you just say Raymond, Simone, and Zack?" she asked.

"Wait a minute!" said Fargo. "I know you. You're Zack's girlfriend!"

"Ex-girlfriend," she corrected him. "You guys planning to take on Team Aegis?"

"Yeah, and take back the territory they took from us," replied Yoshiyuki. "I'd hate to see a pretty girl leave, but you're supporting our rivals. You have to move on from our table."

"Me? Support those freaks?" Juno put a hand a hand on her hips, shaking a finger at him. "You, big guy, are _sorely_ mistaken. I would like to see nothing more than all three of them getting what they deserve."

'_I'm not big, just tall,' _Yoshiyuki thought to himself.

"Hold on a second. 'Getting what they deserve?' What did they ever do to you?" wondered J. C. "Want to sit down and tell us about it?"

Juno did so, taking the last chair between him and Yoshiyuki. "Zack neglected me. For his team. I just wanted him to spend time with me, you know? But whenever Raymond or that redhead lab experiment come calling, I know he would choose his friends over me. The little time I did spend with him showed me that we probably weren't meant to be together, anyway. We're like… apples and oranges with each other."

"So, I broke it off with him yesterday morning." _'After cheating on him with various guys during most of our relationship.'_

"I understand," said J.C. "I'm impartial when I say this, but Zack is really dedicated to his Team. You have to be, especially when you're the leader. Did he tell you about it before you started going out with him?"

"A little bit before we did. I didn't think it'd be the reason I would break up with him."

"I'd take it as a learning experience. If you get involved with someone from another Team, then you'll know."

"…I'll keep that in mind." Juno pushed her chair back and stood up. "I wish you guys the best of luck. Destroy Team Aegis for me, will you?"

"Will do!" Fargo replied, laughing.

Seeing Juno turn around to head for the counter, Yoshiyuki noticed something as she walked away. "Guys, she has a deck pouch on her belt. She's a duelist."

"Are you hinting to something, man?" questioned Fargo.

"Yeah. J.C., maybe we should do a little recruiting. Maybe we can defeat Team Aegis with a temporary numbers gain. Starting with her."

J.C. rubbed his chin in thought. "I'm not sure about her, exactly. Her relationship was ruined partly because of Duel Gangs. You really think she'll join one, even if it's against her ex?"

"It's worth a shot, I feel."

"You can ask her then. If she wants to join, then great. But if not, don't force the issue. Got it?"

Yoshiyuki nodded. He quickly got up and walked briskly towards Juno.

Fargo turned to his leader. "You sure it's a good idea to send him to convince her? He's so… soft-spoken."

"He may be that," agreed J.C., "but you know the passion is there when you talk to him. How does it feel to have a brother-in-law like that?"

While they were talking, Yoshiyuki reached the counter where Juno just finished paying for a bottle of soda. She noticed him and turned around. "Yeah? What is it?" she asked.

"Um… Juno, was it? Listen, I was wondering… Would you like to join Team Ballistic? Only for a little while."

Juno gave him a critical eye. "Why would I want to be involved in a Team? What's in it for me?"

"Revenge against Team Aegis," he replied without missing a beat. "They have a small amount of territory, and it's the entire reason they even formed the Team. How would you like to be part of the reason that they lose everything they fight for?

"Team Ballistic is working towards this goal. With you helping us, we'll have an advantage in numbers. All three of them need to be defeated in the same night for them to lose their turf. If one of us happens to lose, you can step in and take out the one that got away.

"You hate them; we want to take back what they took from us. By helping us, you'll get some satisfaction, and we'll reclaim the rest of our turf. Everyone wins. Do you accept?"

For a while, Juno said nothing. Deep in thought, she walked over to the table were J.C. and Fargo were still sitting, Yoshiyuki following close behind. The three guys watched as the beautiful brunette opened her soda and chugged it to the halfway point. After breathing a sigh of satisfaction, she chugged the rest before turning her attention toward them.

"Proof."

"Proof?" Team Ballistic echoed.

"I've been told that you need to sweep those guys in order to win turf. I need proof that you guys are contenders. Show me what keeps you guys from being swept so I won't have to pick up behind _all_ of you."

J.C. smiled. "We'll show you just how good we are. Fargo, Yoshiyuki. You two have your disks. Let's go across the street so the two of you can duel."

"You mean, against each other?" asked Fargo.

"Yes. You guys will put on an exhibition match for Juno. We can tell her about us until we're blue in the face, but actions speak louder than words. What other way to speak louder than a duel?"

* * *

A couple of minutes later, the two brothers-in-law faced each other. J.C. and Juno were sitting on the edge of a water fountain that was exactly between the two duelists.

"Fargo, you ready?" cried J.C.

"Always ready!" he replied.

"Yoshiyuki, you ready?"

The tall duelist nodded as he and his brother activated their duel disks and drew five cards.

"Don't hold back!" shouted J.C. "Ready, set, Duel!"

**Fargo: 8,000 LP vs. Yoshiyuki: 8,000 LP**

"I'll take the first move," said Yoshiyuki as he drew his sixth card. "I'll set one monster and one card in my back row." Two facedown cards appeared in front of him in a loose "T" formation. "Turn end."

"I know what you're trying to do, and it's not happening this time," said Fargo as he drew. "First, I activate the Spell Card, Stop Defense. This flips your monster into Attack Position. Now show me what I'm gonna run over…"

Yoshiyuki's facedown monster was revealed to be a shiny dragon of blue-colored jagged skin, with a tan underbelly. It roared loudly at Fargo upon its revelation (1,900 ATK).

"That's Luster Dragon!" cried Fargo. "You tricked me!"

"Yes, I did," agreed Yoshiyuki. "You simply won't attack one of my monsters when it's facedown."

"I don't need to be defensive with you," said Fargo. "To prove it, I'll summon Blizzard Dragon!"

A miniature snowstorm appeared in front of Fargo. It dissipated to reveal a dragon of a lighter blue and much smoother skin than Yoshiyuki's dragon. (1,800 ATK).

"I'll use Blizzard Dragon's effect! Once a turn, it can prevent one of your monsters from attacking or changing positions until the end of your next turn."

Blizzard Dragon fired an icy beam from its mouth at Luster Dragon, which was instantly encased in an icy pillar. Oddly enough, the frozen monster shined even _brighter_ than before.

"Not done yet! I have another Spell, Stamping Destruction! With a Dragon on my field, I can destroy one of your Spells or Traps and inflict 500 damage to you."

"Not before I chain it," countered Yoshiyuki as his facedown lifted. "Common Charity. I draw twice, and then I have to banish a Normal Monster from my hand or my entire hand gets discarded." After drawing his two cards, he banished a monster before he took damage. (Y: 8,000 - 7,500 LP)

Fargo set a facedown card. "Your turn."

**Fargo: 8,000 LP - Yoshiyuki: 7,500 LP**

Yoshiyuki drew. "I activate a Continuous Spell, Heart of the Underdog. You already know what it does, I'm sure."

Juno looked to J.C. "That's the card that gives you an extra draw when you reveal a Normal Monster you draw in the Draw Phase, right?"

"Correct," he replied.

Juno turned back to the duel. _'So Yoshiyuki is using Normal Monsters. I bet he'll draw into Skill Drain any moment, now.'_

"After that," Yoshiyuki continued, "I summon Gene-Warped Warwolf."

A while werewolf leapt out the ground next to the frozen Luster Dragon. Standing upright, it had four arms that ended in grey and red claws, tan armor from its lower torso downward, and black markings on its arms and chest (2,000 ATK).

"Attack Blizzard Dragon," commanded Yoshiyuki. _**"Four Claw Fury."**_

The Warwolf leapt high in the air, all of its arms raised to strike…

"Don't think so!" said Fargo. "I activate my facedown, Book of Moon! Your monster is flipped to facedown Defense Position!"

Yoshiyuki's attacking monster disappeared, replaced by a facedown monster. "I set another facedown card and end," he replied as another card appeared in his Spell/Trap Card Zone.

The ice pillar encasing Luster Dragon shattered, freeing it from its icy prison.

Fargo smiled as he looked at the card he just drew. The Field Spell slot on his disk opened, and he set a card on it. "I activate the Field Spell, Mountain!"

Juno watched as mountains began to rise around everyone present. The park ground itself became a rocky surface. She could hear birds crying out in the distance.

"All Dragons, Winged Beasts, and Thunder monsters now gain 200 ATK and DEF."

Blizzard Dragon roared to the sky (1,800 - 2,000 ATK), mirrored by Luster Dragon (1,900 - 2,100 ATK).

"Now, I summon Spear Dragon! Unleash the fury!"

From a portal appeared a smaller blue dragon with a tan underbelly. It had two horns on top of its head, large wings, and a very long snout (1,900 - 2,100 ATK).

"You're about to get hit with some piercing damage! Spear Dragon, attack the facedown! _**Cyclone Burst!"**_

Spear Dragon fired a swirling gust of breath at the facedown. Gene-Warped Warwolf appeared blocking with all four arms (100 DEF), but the blast eroded the Beast-Warrior into pixels. (Y: 7,500 - 5,500)

"You can't keep me down. Or him." Yoshiyuki's declaration was followed by his facedown's activation. "Damage Gate. I now Special Summon a monster from my Graveyard whose ATK is no more than the amount of Battle Damage I just took."

Gene-Warped Warwolf appeared once again (2,000 ATK). It sneered at Spear Dragon, who shifted to Defense Position by its own effect (0 - 200 DEF).

'_So much for a direct attack with Blizzard Dragon,' _thought Fargo. "I'll move to Main Phase 2 and use Blizzard Dragon's effect to put Luster Dragon on ice once again."

For the second time, Blizzard Dragon froze Luster Dragon in an even larger pillar of ice.

"That ends my turn. Come at me."

**Fargo: 8,000 LP - Yoshiyuki: 5,500 LP**

"Oh, I will," Yoshiyuki replied as he drew his card. "I activate Heart of the Underdog's effect." He revealed the Soul Tiger he just drew to draw another card. "I sacrifice Luster Dragon…"

Inside the pillar, Luster Dragon disappeared.

"Now I'll summon Frostosaurus."

The column of ice grew even larger as a large shape began to form inside of it. It shattered to reveal a giant brontosaurus made entirely of jagged ice (2,600 ATK).

"What goes around comes around. Frostosaurus, attack Blizzard Dragon. _**Ice Age Assault."**_

The dinosaur charged towards Blizzard Dragon, who tried to fight back by firing an icy beam at it. Frostosaurus wasn't even fazed by it as he slammed into the dragon, blowing it into pixels. (F: 8,000 - 7,400 LP)

Yoshiyuki pointed, and Gene-Warped Warwolf pounced on Spear Dragon, destroying it. He then set two facedown cards in his back row. "Turn end."

**Fargo: 7,400 LP - Yoshiyuki: 5,500 LP**

After drawing his card, Fargo set a monster. "That's all I can do," he relented.

Yoshiyuki drew, a little disappointed that he didn't draw a Normal Monster. "I summon Soul Tiger."

From out of thin air appeared a ghost of a white tiger. It licked its chops as its red eyes bore into Fargo (0 ATK).

"Now for the Equip Spell, Symbols of Duty. By sacrificing one of my Normal Monsters, I get to resurrect a monster from either player's Graveyard to my field. I'll tribute Soul Tiger to Special Summon your Spear Dragon."

Soul Tiger swirled into a portal. Out of it flew Spear Dragon (1,900 - 2,100 ATK).

'_Hence a wise general makes a point of foraging on the enemy,' _J.C. remembered reading. _'One cartload of the enemy's provisions is equivalent to twenty of one's own…'_

"Spear Dragon, attack the facedown card," Yoshiyuki commanded.

The monster on the receiving end of Spear Dragon's blast was a red and white dragon which had a mask on its face (1,100 - 1,300 DEF). It promptly got destroyed in the attack. (F: 7,400 - 6,600 LP)

Fargo said, "I'll use Masked Dragon's effect. When destroyed in battle, I can Special Summon a Dragon from my Deck with 1,500 or less ATK.

He went through his deck and plucked out a second copy of Masked Dragon, placing it in Defense Position while Spear Dragon did the same with its effect. Yoshiyuki had Gene-Warped Warwolf destroy the second Masked Dragon, and Frostosaurus did the same with the third that Fargo summoned.

"With the third one's effect, I summon Totem Dragon!" Fargo declared.

A new dragon appeared in front of him. It had the lower body of a small turtle, with wings attached to a red and green shell. A very long neck stretched out to a head with a decorated fin on top of it (200 - 400 DEF).

'_Totem Dragon means trouble is coming,' _Yoshiyuki thought. "I end my turn."

**Fargo: 6,600 LP - Yoshiyuki: 5,500 LP**

Fargo drew his card. "I tribute Totem Dragon- and use its effect to count it as two tributes- to summon the mighty Tyrant Dragon!"

True to Yoshiyuki's fear, trouble came… in the form of a nineteen-foot tall tan dragon. Standing upright, it had fins on the side of its head, two large horns on top, and an impressive wingspan (2,900 - 3,100 ATK).

"Tyrant Dragon, melt that Frostosaurus! _**Imperial Flare!"**_

Tyrant Dragon inhaled deeply before letting loose with a stream of intense fire. Frostosaurus roared and writhed as it eventually melted into a puddle. (Y: 5,500 - 5,000 LP)

"There's still a monster left after that attack," said Fargo. "That means Tyrant Dragon gets a second attack!

"Hmm… I wonder what roasted Warwolf tastes like?"

Tyrant Dragon fired a second Imperial Flare at the Beast-Warrior, burning it to ashes that scattered to the wind. (Y: 5,000 - 3,900 LP)

"Overcooked. Damn," sighed Fargo. "Anyway, I set my last card facedown, and end my turn." A facedown card appeared behind Tyrant Dragon; Yoshiyuki couldn't even see it due to the dragon's size.

**Fargo: 6,600 LP - Yoshiyuki: 3,900 LP**

"Juno," started J.C., "any thoughts on the duel so far?"

"I'm intrigued by you guys," Juno admitted. "I'm surprised that the tall guy- Yoshiyuki?- is running nothing but Normal Monsters. That takes guts in and of itself the way everyone throws effects at each other nowadays. Fargo… he's a fighter, I can tell. A bit overconfident, but… let's see how the rest of the duel turns out."

Yoshiyuki drew his card. "I'll make a tribute of my own, sacrificing Spear Dragon for Neo Aqua Madoor."

Spear Dragon shifted into an orb. It expanded, and disappeared to reveal a masked wizard with spiky hair of an icy blue, and long red nails. He wore a brown skintight top along with black leather pants. A yellow cape billowed behind him as he stood defiantly against the imposing dragon (1,200 ATK).

A Spell Card then appeared on Yoshiyuki's field. "Creature Swap. I pick a monster, you pick a monster. They switch sides."

'_Are you serious?' _thought Fargo. _'I can't even activate my facedown card since the monster he's trading is a higher level than I want it to be.'_

Neo Aqua Madoor and Tyrant Dragon vanished and reappeared on opposite sides of the field.

"What goes around comes around. But it's starting to boomerang against you, Fargo. Tyrant Dragon attacks Neo Aqua Madoor."

Fargo's former monster breathed fire at the icy wizard, who didn't have a fighting chance against the raging inferno. (F: 6,600 - 4,700 LP)

"I'm done."

**Fargo: 4,700 LP - Yoshiyuki: 3,900 LP**

Fargo drew his card and immediately played it. "I activate Smashing Ground to destroy Tyrant Dragon!"

A giant fist came down from the sky. Tyrant Dragon was flattened before exploding into shards.

"I end my turn, man."

Yoshiyuki drew his card. "I activate Heart of the Underdog's effect." He revealed Giant Soldier of Stone to draw once more. "Now I'll summon the monster I just revealed."

Out of the ground erupted a giant humanoid-like figure made entirely out of grey stone. It unsheathed two small stone swords it carried on its back (1,300 ATK).

"Giant Soldier of Stone, attack directly. _**Stone Slash Attack."**_

The rocky warrior jumped at Fargo and slammed its two swords into him. (F: 4,700 - 3,400 LP)

A facedown card materialized in front of Yoshiyuki. He nodded, signaling the end of his turn.

**Fargo: 3,400 LP - Yoshiyuki: 3,900 LP**

Topdecking once again, Fargo once again played his card as soon as he drew it. "The Spell Card, Swords of Revealing Light! Now your monsters can't attack for three turns!"

Yoshiyuki looked up as several glowing swords rained down around him and his monsters. He drew to start his turn, hoping for a Mystical Space Typhoon. He drew Tune Warrior instead. Heart of the Underdog glowed as he revealed it to draw again.

A smile crept to his face as he looked at the second card. It wasn't Mystical Space Typhoon, but it was just as useful to him right now.

"You don't get a chance to recuperate, Fargo. I activate the Continuous Spell, Non-Spellcasting Area. All non-Effect monsters are unaffected by Spell Cards.

"That means your Swords of Revealing Light can't keep my monster from attacking," he explained as he played another card. "Summoning… Tune Warrior."

He played the card, and a Warrior that looked more like a Machine appeared. The body was a metallic red with built-in steam gauges and rubber for its torso and elbows. It had two small antennae on its head, a green visor and drill bits for hands (1,600 ATK).

"Tune Warrior, attack Fargo directly. _**Jump Start Joust."**_

The monster rushed towards Fargo, one of its drill bits sparking with electricity. Fargo yelled as the attack hit him in the gut. (F: 3,400 - 1,800 LP)

He was knocked to the ground as Giant Soldier of Stone struck him for a second time. (F: 1,800 - 500 LP)

"Not much farther now," observed Yoshiyuki. "I go to Main Phase 2. Level 3 Tune Warrior, Level 3 Giant Soldier of Stone, Tuning."

The gauges on Tune Warrior went into max before it faded into three stars. They turned into three rings that surrounded Giant Soldier of Stone.

"_With spears in hand, and steed at a steady speed, hold fast to the origin that spawned it all._

"_Synchro Summon. Gaia Knight, the Force of Earth."_

From a column of light appeared to be a mechanical version of the well-known Gaia the Fierce Knight. The steed was still various shades of purple, and its rider had yellow and purple armor with a red spear in each hand. Upon closer inspection, one would see that the rider had nothing below its torso because it was actually _attached_ to the horse (2,600 ATK).

"Gaia Knight doesn't have an effect, either," reminded Yoshiyuki. "So it's unaffected by Spells as well. Turn end."

**Fargo: 500 LP - Yoshiyuki: 3,900 LP**

'_Come on, give me something good!' _thought Fargo as he drew. He slowly turned the card to view it…

'_Yes!'_

"During my Standby Phase, I Special Summon Totem Dragon back to the field!"

Totem Dragon reappeared with a small roar (400 - 600 ATK).

"Now I'll tribute it to summon Strong Wind Dragon!"

The small dragon turned into an expanding orb. It disappeared to reveal a muscular green dragon with a yellow underbelly and a fifteen foot wingspan (2,400 - 2,600 ATK).

"Strong Wind Dragon gains half of the ATK of the Dragon I sacrificed. Not like it really needed it, but I won't complain."

Totem Dragon reappeared in spectral form and turned into a white orb which Strong Wind Dragon swallowed (2,600 - 2,900 ATK).

"Now, attack!" cried Fargo. _**"Wrath of the F5!"**_

Strong Wind Dragon shot a sphere of wind at Gaia Knight's feet. The resulting explosion created a tornado that tossed Gaia Knight around. The Synchro Warrior landed a good thirty feet behind Yoshiyuki before it shattered. (Y: 3,900 - 3,600 LP)

"My turn is over. And so is this duel if you don't do something, man."

**Fargo: 500 LP - Yoshiyuki: 3,600 LP**

Yoshiyuki drew, set it in his Spell and Trap Zone, and ended. "That's all," he said.

Fargo looked hard at Yoshiyuki after looking as his drawn card. "I activate Mystical Space Typhoon! Now I'll find out if you're bluffing or not!"

"I was," Yoshiyuki confessed, "but I might as well chain it. Dust Tornado."

Two tornados- one made of sand and feathers, the other with particles of space dust in it- tore across the field. One hit Yoshiyuki's Dust Tornado card, the other destroyed Fargo's facedown card.

"Well, that facedown was useless to me now," cried Fargo. "Strong Wind Dragon, direct attack!"

Yoshiyuki held his ground as he was buffeted by the tornado. (Y: 3,600 - 700 LP)

"Turn end," smirked Fargo.

"Hey," said Juno to J.C. "Who usually comes out on top when they duel?"

Team Ballistic's leader stroked his chin in thought. "Hmm… I'd say they're tit for tat. Probably comes from both of them knowing each other so well. It's tough to say who's going to win this particular match, especially with both of their life points in the triple digits."

"But Fargo has the advantage with Strong Wind Dragon, doesn't he? There's not much Yoshiyuki can do right now. Except hope for the best."

**Fargo: 500 LP - Yoshiyuki: 700 LP**

'_If I had known that facedown card wasn't really serving a purpose for Fargo, I would've destroyed this Field Spell,' _Yoshiyuki thought as he drew his card and looked at it. _'Charcoal Inpachi? I need something to go with this.'_ He revealed it with Heart of the Underdog to draw another card.

A glint appeared in his eyes for a brief moment. _'Very good.'_

"I Set a monster… and a facedown as well." Another loose "T" formation of facedown cards appeared in front of Yoshiyuki, similar to the duel's start.

"End it." With that, the swords around him disappeared, almost as if giving Fargo the go-ahead.

Fargo smiled. "Gladly. I draw! Strong Wind Dragon inflicts piercing damage as well, so he can do what you say and end it for you!"

Strong Wind Dragon prepared to blast at the now revealed Charcoal Inpachi, a large, smoldering spirit made of charcoal with dull red eyes and the number 18 seared into its chest (2,100 DEF).

"I activate my facedown card," said Yoshiyuki. "Dimension Wall."

"Never saw that before. What's that do?" Fargo questioned.

Yoshiyuki smirked. "It makes you take the Battle Damage from your own attack instead of me."

A portal appeared behind Charcoal Inpachi before Strong Wind Dragon's blast broke it into pieces. The portal sucked up the remains as a second one appeared behind an unsuspecting Fargo, dumping the charcoal on him. (F: 500 - 0 LP)

**Final Score: Fargo: 0 LP - Yoshiyuki; 700 LP**

As the mountains disappeared and the surroundings returned to normal, Yoshiyuki walked up to Fargo and patted him on the shoulder. "Good duel."

"I'll say." Juno walked over, followed by J.C. "You guys are pretty good."

"Good enough to convince you to join Team Ballistic?" asked J.C.

Juno smiled. "Let me think about it… Sure. I'll join. Until you guys get your territory back."

Fargo and Yoshiyuki high-fived each other. They had dueled well enough to gain a new team member. If they could defeat Team Aegis, especially tomorrow when they were taken off guard, things could go back to how they used to be.

* * *

"Ahh… just by being here, I can feel the energy flowing through my veins. I need this place to further my goals."

As J.C. initiated Juno as an official member at Team Balllistic's hangout, a figure walked slowly on the rooftop of C4, his red skin and blue eyes dimly lit by the overhead stars. Brushing aside his shock of yellow hair, he reached into his tattered coat and pulled out four cards.

"It is my sincerest wish that the four of them use these cards to edge Team Aegis out of their turf. Once that happens, I'll have all that I need to save my dimension… and theirs as well."

With that, the mysterious entity vanished in a flash of green light.

* * *

**Next time:**

**Raymond: I can't believe I let Charlotte talk me into taking her along with us…**

**It seems that was for the best, however. Team Ballistic would've surprised us with a slight numbers gain on their end, but with an extra passenger on my D-Wheel, they thought we had the jump on their plan.**

**As Charlotte, Siren, and Zack find their opponents, I take it to the streets with J.C. He's a tough customer as always, not just because he's the leader, but also because of his deck choice.**

"**Rivalry of Warlords" is coming up next on "The Pursuit of Balance!" Riding Duel, Acceleration! **


End file.
